Soulmates
by Josephine Martin
Summary: SpikeBuffy centred. This is a sequel to Rebirth and best read after that. Everything up to and including 'The Gift' is implied. Buffy's back, but Spike's Initiative chip is in the wrong hands! COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

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Soulmates

The characters in this story do not belong to me. They belong to Joss Wheddon etc. I am not making money from this. It's is just for fun. 

This is a sequel to 'Rebirth'. It would be best if you read that first, but if you really don't want to, the following will hopefully allow you to make sense of the rest of the story.

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Previously: After Buffy died closing the rift created by the Key, Spike found a way to bring her back. This had the side effect of getting him a soul and required Buffy's soul and awareness to reside in Spike's body for a while. This created a bond between them. Loving Buffy and wanting to give her time to sort out her feelings for him, Spike left for London and reclaimed his family fortune. While there he uses his original name – William Stevas. Meanwhile in Sunnydale, Buffy was one of many victims of a Halkrew demon which drains humans of life energy. Spike had been in contact with a watcher named Lydia Watkins while in London. When Spike learned of Buffy's attack through his bond with her, he tried to return to Sunnydale but was prevented from doing so by a jealous Lydia. In trying to escape, Spike was staked. However, his bond with Buffy meant that his soul joined Buffy's and could then be put back in his body – in this case a human body. Spike saved Buffy and killed the demon in the process becoming a 'super charged' human. Buffy and Spike decided to get married.

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Chapter 1

It was an anonymous office in an anonymous block in a city which could have been anywhere in the world. One man ushered another inside, gesturing to the raft of electronics filling the room. The first man was aged 40-ish and wore jeans and a t-shirt. He was generally untidy – his appearance was clearly unimportant to him. The other was a complete contrast. He was stylishly dressed in a suit and tie and his perfect face was set off by perfectly arranged hair. He was dark and blue eyed. If you can imagine the next line-up for would be James Bonds – this man would be the winner. He could almost have been Pierce Brosnan – almost.

The James Bond type interrupted the other's description of his equipment. "I assume you've finished your analysis of the chip?" His accent gave no clue as to his origin. The English was perfect, but the accent a little of everything.

"Oh, of course," the other replied. I've got everything on this." He handed the other a CD. "Is there anything else you want?"

"Not now," the perfect face replied. "I assume this will keep you quiet until I need you again." He opened a brief case, which was filled with money. "What we agreed plus a 50% bonus – as a retainer. You do understand what will happen if anyone else hears about our deal?"

The perfect face smiled and his companion thought he'd never seen anything so frightening. "Y...yes," he stammered.

It was two weeks into the new year in Sunnydale. Spike was sitting at the dining table of the Summers house – he still thought of it that way – with a laptop and a pile of paperwork. He fingered the small white-gold cross he now wore round his neck – a wedding present from Buffy. He was muttering irritatedly to himself, "Bloody paperwork. And they wonder why I avoided money all those years."

There was a knock on the door – wonder of wonders - everyone who normally called just walked in. Since Tara and Willow moved to their own apartment, they seemed to pop in so often, Spike reckoned he'd seen more of them than he had when they'd lived in the same house. He approached the door expecting a salesman and opened it to find – Riley. Both simply looked at each other for several seconds before Riley growled, "What're you doing here?"

Surprised, Spike answered, "I live here." Suddenly, Riley grabbed Spike by his black t-shirt and pulled him through the door into the sunlight. When Spike didn't immediately start smoking, Riley stood and stared. Spike sauntered up to Riley in the manner most likely to irritate him and hit him once, hard.

While Riley picked himself up from the ground, Spike calmly walked back in the door saying, "You'd better come in, mate. It seems there's an awful lot you don't know." He saw Riley rubbing his chin. "The punch? That's just for old time's sake. For all the times you hit me when you knew I couldn't hit back. You want some coffee?"

Riley followed Spike into the kitchen. "Where's Buffy?" Riley started. "And Joyce and Dawn?"

Spike looked round, surprised. "Joyce? She died. After effect of the brain tumour. Not long after you left." This silenced Riley until the two were sitting, sipping their coffee.

"So, you want to know what happened after you left?" Spike began. "Well, you know about Glory, well, she got hold of Dawn – she needed her blood to open a rift between dimensions. Well, she succeeded, she opened the rift, and the only way to close it again was for Summers blood to be sacrificed. So Buffy threw herself off a tower to save Dawn and the rest of the planet, and she was dead."

"B. Buffy's dead?" Riley started.

"No, listen to the whole story." Spike still found it difficult to talk about that time and was telling the story mechanically. "She was dead, but I did some reading and found a place where I could get her soul back. So I went there to call her soul back and in the process got one of my own. For a while Buffy was in here." He pointed to his head. "Her soul, her awareness, her memories, all in here." Spike was lost for a moment, remembering how happy that time had been. It had been the beginning of the closeness he now had all the time. "So, after a while, we were able to reunite her body with her soul, and Buffy was back."

"Ok," interrupted Riley, "So you have a soul – that shouldn't make you impervious to sunlight."

"No, but that's only the beginning of the story. Just after Buffy got back, I went to England. I wanted to give her time to sort herself out. Anyway, she carried on with her slaying; I got involved with some work for the Council. The problem was, I succeeded in brassing off one of the watchers over there. Then there was a Halkrew demon in Sunnydale. It killed a lot of people – and eventually it got Buffy. She wasn't dead, but she'd had most of her life energy sucked out of her – so it wouldn't have been long. The thing is, the time Buffy spent with me, left some sort of a link. Anyway, I knew something was wrong and decided to come back. Unfortunately, the Watcher I'd irritated took exception to my leaving and had me staked." 

"Then how?" asked Riley, struggling to take in all this information.

"Did I manage the trick of being here now?" Spike continued for him, grinning. "Simple really. You see, once it was freed from my vampire body, my soul made for the one place it knew it would have a warm welcome. I came to Buffy. But she was ill. No one had ever survived a Halkrew demon attack before. But then no one had ever had a visitor with a separate supply of life energy before, either. I spotted how to get the energy back, healed her and the others who hadn't died yet. And got me an extra helping of life energy. Buffy did the same ritual she used to get her own body back, and I was the result."

Neither said anything for several minutes. "So, where's Buffy?"

"She and Dawn're at the Mall – should be back any minute," Spike replied.

"That still doesn't tell me why you live here now," Riley's aggression was erupting again.

At that moment, the front door opened and Dawn bounced in, "Spike, wait 'til you see what we've bought. I've got some terrific new jeans and tops and Buffy has a ...." At that moment, both girls spotted Riley.

Buffy swayed a little, reaching out her left hand to the nearest wall for support.

Riley looked at her face for a moment and then his gaze was drawn to her ring finger. "Two rings, an engagement ring and a wedding band," he thought. It was all he could see. "Y ..you're married?" he stuttered incredulously.

"Yeah, well, I was just getting to that part," Spike interrupted. "Still getting used to the idea myself. Sixteen days ago." As he spoke, he walked up to Buffy, put his arms around her possessively and kissed her cheek. He guided her carefully to a chair and said to Dawn, "I think we should give these two a little time. Fancy going to the Magic Box?"

"Yeah, sure, I'll just put the shopping upstairs," Dawn replied. Spike picked up the laptop and pile of paper and stood at the front door waiting for Dawn.

When they'd gone, Riley and Buffy sat in silence for several minutes. " I thought you must be dead," Buffy started. "When you didn't get in touch at all, I thought, ..."

"I can't believe you married that idiot!" Riley was shouting. He'd looked forward to seeing her again. He knew she'd more than likely found someone else, but Spike! "Why? Was it gratitude? Rebound? Why?"

Buffy was angry now too. "Rebound? From you? Conceited much. Yeah, I was sad when you left. But you were right. I didn't love you. I wanted to, but it would never have worked. I married Spike because I love him. Really love him. I fell in love with him while he was still a vampire. But now, it's even better because I still hope for a little normality in my life. He's everything I want." 

Riley stood up and started pacing the floor. "When he opened the door, the first thing I thought was that he'd hurt you. That stupid infatuation he had with you. You know what I did when I saw him? I pulled him out into the sunlight. I thought I'd finish him right away."

Buffy was looking at him now, her face more terrible that he'd ever seen it. "You tried to kill him," she whispered. Riley realised he'd never heard a colder statement. "Get out," she added, getting up and opening the front door. "Get out!" This last was a scream. Riley left and spent the rest of the day getting slowly drunk and staying that way.


	2. Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

Late the following afternoon, Riley arrived at the Magic Box, expecting to find Giles. Instead he found Anya, Spike, Buffy and Dawn. When he walked in, Buffy immediately walked into the training room. "Coming?" she asked Spike. "You said I need to work on accuracy."

"You get changed, love, I'll be there in a minute," Spike replied. When she'd left the room, Spike asked, "Why'd you tell her you tried to dust me? I mean, I've never seen her angrier and believe me, I've seen her angry. I wouldn't have said anything. I mean, I know how you feel. I know how I felt when you two were together."

"How could you know?" Riley's voice was a snarl. "You wouldn't know love if it bit you!"

Spike couldn't help smiling that infuriating grin. The stupid boy just couldn't believe he'd lost the love of his life to a vampire – or ex-vampire.

Spike walked up to Riley, looked him straight in the eye and told him, his voice little more than a whisper, "I love Buffy. I've always loved Buffy. Even before I had a soul, I loved her. 'Course it was easier for you to believe it was just some stupid plan of mine. But the time we spent in each other's heads – it's like we're just two halves of one person now. I couldn't live without her now. And, amazing as it seems, she feels the same. If you can't deal, then I suggest you get the hell out of here." Spike turned to Dawn and asked her, "You ok here for a bit, Niblet?" She nodded and Spike went to join Buffy.

Dawn had watched the exchange in silence. She liked Riley. She loved Spike. "Hey," she began. Riley gave her a smile that said he didn't feel like smiling. "Where's Giles?"

"He went back to London," she replied. "I'm glad you're back."

Riley managed a genuine smile at that. "Is she happy?" he asked.

Dawn grinned back, "'Course she is. I mean, all the time Spike was in London last year, she just pined for him. She was so sad, all the time. And Spike's cool. And it's like – I've got two super-power hero types livin' in my house – so I feel safe too. And now Mom's gone and after Glory, that's good."

Riley nodded, then looked puzzled. "What do you mean, two super-power hero types? He's human, isn't he?"

"Well, yeah," Dawn replied. "But something he did while he was curing Buffy – he soaked up some extra life energy or something – he's really strong – y'know like Buffy."

Riley spent a few minutes thinking about this, then remembered why he'd come here. "D'you know how I can contact Giles?"

Dawn said, "Yeah, there's a phone number and an address here somewhere," she started rummaging under the counter. "Here it is," she added, handing him a piece of paper, "Only you have to remember the time difference if you're gonna 'phone him."

"Who's running this place if Giles's gone?" Riley asked. 

"Well, Giles still owns half, but Spike bought the rest, so I guess he is," Dawn replied.

Riley nodded and left to find somewhere quiet to process this latest information.

In the training room, Buffy had used the session to vent her anger at Riley for coming back and questioning her judgement and life choices. Spike mainly blocked where he could and let her get it out of her system. When she had showered, she apologised to Spike. "I'm sorry, you've got more reason than I have to be angry. Why aren't you? He wanted to kill you."

Spike put his arms around her and said, "Listen, love, he doesn't threaten me. I know you love me. Sometimes can't believe it, but deep down, I know it's true. I had several years as a chipped vampire, struggling to control the innate aggression. Once I'd mastered that, without the demon, keeping my cool is fairly easy. Only thing I know gets me in that state now, is if someone threatens you or Dawn." He paused then added, "And I remember how it felt. Thinking about you with someone else - it killed me."

Next day, Giles got a call from Riley. He'd spent most of his spare time since arriving in London the previous summer investigating Lydia's death. She'd obviously been into something. Her death and the subsequent disappearance of Spike's chip were still a mystery. The news that Riley was back in Sunnydale on a mission was surprising. The Initiative had been destroyed a few years ago, but Riley had been charged with sharing some new information with the Slayer and her watcher. "You see, the information concerns Hostile 17," Riley continued. "I can't give you more on the phone. I'll try to get a secure line and Email it to you. I haven't told Buffy. I'm not sure I can trust her now." He hesitated then added, "How do you feel about Buffy and Spike?"

"Well, they seem to be extremely happy. I don't think I've ever seen Buffy this happy – even at the height of the whole Angel thing – I mean before Angelus – but then she's older now. She's grown up and she knows what she's doing. And I really believe he loves her. Still surprises me to hear myself say that. But he's ok."

Two days later, Riley had had confirmation that Giles had received his information and his recommendation that the information be shared with the Scoobies. A meeting was arranged for that evening in the Magic Box. 

As had become the custom since Giles left, Spike controlled the meeting. He found meetings were shorter that way. "I understand you have some information for us?" he began.

Riley nodded. "After my last mission, I was given a special assignment to come here and share information with you. It's part of an investigation. As you know, the Initiative was destroyed a couple of years ago. Some things have recently come to light which imply that their plans were more extensive that we had thought, and more worryingly, that someone is still planning something." 

He paused to let this sink in. "You all know about the Room 315 plan – Adam. You're also familiar with the experiments, which involved chipping vampires. What you don't know, is that those chips were much more sophisticated than the main records implied. They were designed to cause pain to any vampire who hurt a human being. They were also designed to obtain a sophisticated psychological profile of the subject. At a signal from central control, this information was broadcast back. The chips were also software upgradable. In other words, when enough information was gathered, it would have been possible to re-program the chips to control the subjects in a much more detailed way. The aim was to produce an army of very strong, fast, undercover operatives for the US military."

Riley continued. "There were problems, however. Spike was subject 17. In total, over 50 vampires were chipped. Of these only 10 survived and were able to be set loose."

Spike broke in, "Just a minute, mate, I escaped. No one let me go."

"You were due for release the following day," Riley continued. "Of those 10, only one survived more than a week. Most went mad when they couldn't feed as before. Only one adapted and survived." Every eye in the room rested on Spike. "Now if that was all, this might be an interesting history lesson, but there's more. Evidence has recently come to light that your chip was activated to download information only hours before your, eh, change of status. Add to that, that fact that the whereabouts of your chip is also unknown, and I think you can see the problem. The last known holder of the chip was the Watcher, Lydia Watkins. Shortly afterwards, Miss Watkins died in a very unnatural manner. She was ...... melted. That is, a pool of organic matter was found on the floor of her home. DNA tests showed it was her." There was a shocked silence. "We assume Miss Watkins was in league with some other person or persons, and that there was a falling out of some sort. It may have had to do with your being staked – we don't know. Why did she do that anyway? Did you attack her?"

All eyes looked at Spike. He shrugged, but Buffy answered, "She wanted to keep Spike for herself, isn't that right?" Spike shrugged again.

The man with the perfect face no longer looked perfect. In fact, he didn't even look human. His natural form was that of a lilac blob, whose surface seemed to be liquid. He was meeting with another of his kind. "We have the details of the chip. How soon can manufacture begin?" "Immediately," was his reply.

Giles had been researching the link between Buffy and Spike, which came about as a result of body sharing. They both had a constant awareness of the feelings of the other, but could not use it to converse, and could not switch it off. He sent some suggestions for meditation techniques, which he hoped, might allow some control. So far they had had no success. They had started to include meditation at the beginning of each training session and although they found it helped concentration, they had had no success controlling their link.

It was late. Their patrol had been uneventful so far, and Spike and Buffy had decided to head for home. As they approached a particularly large crypt, Buffy stopped, listening carefully. Immediately aware of her concern, Spike also stopped. Before either could react, a gang of vampires attacked them – there were at least a dozen. They quickly dispatched two, but the rest were harder. Twenty minutes later there were four left, but Buffy was breathing hard and Spike was obviously tiring. Suddenly, a violet blob appeared, enveloping Buffy. The whole thing seemed to melt onto the ground and then soak right in. Buffy was gone. Spike felt her surprise then her terror. Then the link was gone. The four remaining vampires fled. Spike gave chase and eventually caught one of them. Ignoring his first impulse to stake the small, wiry vampire, he simply knocked him unconscious. He found some rope in the bag he'd been carrying, tied him up and headed for the Magic Box. Once he had secured the vampire in the training room, he made some phone calls. Within minutes, the gang started to arrive.

Buffy was aware of the lilac colour, then intense pain, as she seemed to be melting. She remembered nothing else until some time later when she awoke in the dark. She was tied to the wall, and although she struggled, she couldn't loosen her bonds.

Once he had described to the others what he had seen, Spike drifted off into a corner and felt for Buffy. Her initial terror had been followed by pain. Then he had lost contact with her for a while. That respite had allowed him to act, but now he could feel her fear again and he was paralysed by it. While the others researched the lilac blob, Willow noticed Spike's condition. She had to shake him several times before he noticed her. "She was so afraid, in so much pain," he muttered. 

Once she had his attention, she forced him to look into her eyes and chanted something. Spike found he couldn't look away. Then Willow started a simple meditation chant – one of the first Buffy and he had tried when they attempted to control their link. Slowly, very slowly, Spike felt himself being withdrawn from Buffy's fear and back to the Magic Box. His breathing slowed and he was more aware of what was going on around him. Willow smiled. A moment later he became aware of Giles's voice coming from the speakerphone they'd had fitted recently. Xander was trying to explain what had happened and was looking at Spike for clarification. With an effort, Spike joined them at the table and re-stated what had happened. "We would've got the vampires – eventually – it was that blob. I mean it didn't really look threatening. It was there, and then it covered Buffy and then I felt her fear and then her pain. I reckon I lost it for a bit." 

Xander stood up. "You've got the vampire you caught in the training room?" On seeing Spike nod, he got up and opened the door. "Willow, is there anything you can do here? A truth spell would speed things up if you've got one?" Tara was already on her way to the books, and Willow followed.

Spike suddenly realised that Dawn must be at home, alone. He started to speak but was interrupted. "Don't worry, we covered that. You know your neighbour, the one across the street, used to teach in Dawn's Junior High? We called her and arranged for her to stay. She's always offering to help. But you should be there before she wakes in the morning." Willow had spoken without taking her eyes from the book.

The purple blob had taken on human appearance to talk to Buffy. He looked a little like a young Paul Newman, she thought. "Slayer, you cannot escape from here. Your friends cannot find you. Soon you will join an army of the most elite warriors ever created, but it is not yet time." The face turned lilac and started to dissolve, running to the ground and along the floor as it left her alone, and Buffy was left in the dark again.

Willow and Tara arranged their circle close to the terrified vampire. As they chanted, a strange, black mist left Willow's ears and attached itself to the vampire's mouth. Willow's voice, when she spoke was strangely deep. "Tell us what you know of the attack on the Slayer." 

The next voice to emanate from Willow's mouth was high pitched and terrified. "We were given orders to attack the Slayer. That's all. We didn't expect what happened. We thought we would be well rewarded for killing the slayer. I don't know anything else."

As Willow flopped forward, Tara caught her and held her until she was strong enough to sit up again. When she did, she confirmed the vampire had not known any more. With one swift movement, Xander staked the vampire who immediately turned to dust.

"Ok, what else can we try?" Xander asked when they had reported back to Giles. "Have you found out anything about the purple blob monster?" 

"I've got something," Giles replied. "Fortunately the records here are really quite extensive. The demon is known as a Turqoda. It's a shape shifter. Its natural form is the lilac blob Spike described, but it can take any shape it wishes. In terms of habits – there's one strange thing. When they take on human shape they tend to look like someone famous. In terms of weakness, they seem to have an acidic body structure and there is a theory that an alkaline solution would cause them to lose corporeal integrity."

"Whoa," Xander interrupted, "What's corporeal integrity?"

Tara responded, "I think Giles means their bodies would, well, melt."

"Yes, I suppose that's what it could look like," Giles continued. "There are rumours that they have been in league for centuries with the vampire who is reputed to be Dracula's sire – Alexandr. In fact - "

"But what do they want with Buffy?" Spike asked.

"That might take some more time," Giles apologised. "I'll keep working on it and ring you as soon as I've more information on its habits and so on. Oh, is there any way you can use Spike's link to Buffy to find out where she is?"

"We're workin' on it," Tara and Willow replied.


	3. Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

Buffy's surroundings were dark and quiet. There was nothing to see and nothing to hear. She felt better now. When she'd first come round she'd felt Spike's feelings mirroring her own. Fear and pain spiralled between them until they'd both been unable to think. Then she became aware that Spike calmed down and she knew that Willow was helping him by loosening the link a little. After a while she became aware of Spike reassuring her and she felt better. 

It was difficult to measure time here, but she guessed she'd been in that room about a day. She'd been fed and allowed to use a toilet in the corner of the room, but apart from her conversation with someone she would bet was not Paul Newman, there had been nothing to break the monotony. At last, a doorway opened and two creatures entered. There was a little light from the doorway, but it was behind them, so she saw only silhouettes. Her Slayer Sense recognised the creature who had brought her meals, but she got no tingle from the other. Soon the other being was tied up across the room from her and they were left alone. She remembered where the door had been and continued to look in that direction, but there was nothing – no light coming through anywhere.

The voice from the other being was ranting softly to itself. "Cheating scum. I'm supposed to be on the team. They'll pay. No one'll be able to set this up like I could." 

Buffy let him finish his rant in case he said something useful. Eventually she asked him, "Who are you?" 

The man started. He'd thought he was alone. "Oh, it's not just me, is it? They've started already."

"What've they started?" Buffy asked him.

"You'd never believe me," he replied.

The meeting was a formal one. Dracula had not seen or heard from his Sire for so long he could barely remember him. Then, three months ago he'd had the visit. Alexandr had asked for his support. It was time for their kind to take over the world. Everything was in place, but it would be easier if he had the support of the major vampire groups of the world. In terms of sheer numbers, Dracula's was the greatest. The plan was simple. Using the Initiative chip to control small numbers of vampires, they would be trained to turn only selected people. These were to be the people in power. Those with access to communications. Those with access to money. Those without whom the civilised world would crumble. One by one they would be chipped and sent back out into the world.

Dracula initially decided to avoid this plan. He was uncomfortable – not least with the fact that it wasn't his. But his Sire had an offer to make. He had only to ask and his heart's desire would be granted. Dracula immediately thought of the Slayer. He had wanted her with him for some time now. And he knew that with her by his side, even Alexandr could no longer dominate him. So he asked Alexandr to give him the Slayer with the stipulations that she should not be harmed and that only Dracula be allowed to turn her. Today he had tasted her blood. A messenger had arrived from Alexandr with news that the Slayer was captive and awaiting him. As a token of truthfulness, a small quantity of the Slayer's blood had been taken for him to sample.

"You'd be surprised what I'd believe," Buffy answered her cellmate. She was rubbing a scar on her arm. She couldn't remember hurting herself there, but that was not unusual.

"Oh, yes. You're bound to believe in vampires," he replied sarcastically.

"Well, yeah, you see, I'm the Slayer – as in Vampire Slayer," she replied.

He was silent for several seconds. "The Slayer! I thought I recognised that voice. You knew subject 17, didn't you? I think you called him Spike."

Buffy's ears pricked up at that point, but she kept her voice level as she replied, "What do you know about that?"

"Oh, I worked for the Initiative. It was my job to download information from the implanted chips. It was also supposed to be my job to provide detailed psychological profiles of the chipped subjects. Only problem was, only 17 lasted long enough to get anything useful." He was silent for a while.

"Go on, how come you were on the team?" Buffy tried to sound threatening.

"Oh, yeah, well, after the Initiative was destroyed I got my back up files and carried on monitoring 17's data. Really interesting. I was thinking of publishing my work one day. I've listened to hours of conversations he had. I've gigabytes of data on his brain activity during every possible activity. I've done a more detailed profile on him than I'd have thought possible. Then I was contacted to do some work on the chip itself. This guy – looked like James Bond, you know? Told me what happened to 17. I was quite sorry when I heard he'd been dusted. You know, I'd kind've come to like him. He didn't fit the mould for vampires. I guess that's the reason he survived so long. He was the only one who could control the demon in him. Wait ... he brought you back, didn't he? You were dead and he went through some amazing pain to get you back. Got himself a soul too, didn't affect the profile that I could see, though. Funny that, thought it would."


	4. Chapter 4

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Chapter 4

It was mid morning at the Summers house. Spike and Xander had come back early to talk to Dawn when she woke. Tara and Willow were still working at the Magic Box. Xander hated this. He wanted to do something, but they didn't know where Buffy was yet. He was making another pot of coffee. He'd been there when Spike had told Dawn her sister had been taken. It was almost like she was dead again, but Spike reassured them both she was ok. Dawn and Spike were sitting in the lounge, just taking comfort from each other's presence. It looked wrong to Xander. It felt wrong too. He'd always been the shoulder for Buffy to cry on, and he should be the 'big brother' for Dawn too. There was a knock on the door and Xander answered it.

Riley stood there and asked, "Is Buffy here? I need to apologise."

Xander motioned for him to enter but took him into the kitchen. He explained what had happened.

"So, what's the plan? When do we go and get her back?" he asked.

"As soon as we know where she is. Willow's working on something. She'll be here as soon as she's got it." 

Riley suddenly realised he hadn't seen Dawn. "Where's Dawn?" he asked. "She must be out of her mind."

"She is," Xander replied, "but Spike's looking after her."

"Is that wise?" Riley asked. He was sure he'd never trust Spike with anything he cared about. 

"Probably not wise, but it's what Dawn wants. Come and see," Xander started towards the lounge.

They sat on the settee, Dawn's head on Spike's shoulder. Both of them had been crying but were calm.

Xander propelled Riley into the room saying, "I'll get the coffee."

Riley entered and sat down. Neither of the others gave any indication they'd noticed him.

Several cups of coffee later, Willow and Tara arrived. "There're a couple of possibilities. Well, there's an easy way and a hard way," Willow sounded cheerful, but Xander could tell it was forced. "We'll try the easy way first, and if that doesn't work, we'll try plan B."

"The easy way," Willow explained, "is to see if Buffy knows where she is. If she does, I'll use Spike's link to find out. If she doesn't, there's another possibility, but the last time I tried a spell like that, it knocked me out for hours!" 

Spike was watching Willow intently. "What do I need to do?" he asked her.

"Just sit still on that chair," she said pointing to the dining chair she'd sent Xander to get. When he was settled, Willow stood behind him. She put her right hand on Spike's temple and her left on his chest, over his heart. "I think the link will be clearest this way," she said, explaining nothing. She chanted a few words under her breath and started. Spike could hear Willow in his mind.

She was calling to Buffy. Buffy answered. "Willow, is that you? How can I hear you?"

"I'm piggy-backing on Spike's link to you. Do you know where you are?"

"No," Buffy replied, "I was unconscious when I got here. I don't even know how long I've been gone." 

"About 20 hours," Willow answered her, checking her watch. "Don't worry, we'll find you. I've got some things to try."

"Can I speak to Spike?" Buffy asked.

"Don't know," Willow replied. "Have you heard what we've said?" she asked Spike.

His answering thought was "Yes," and Buffy heard it. Suddenly Willow was gone, but she could hear Spike still. He was reassuring her – with words now as well as feelings. She started to tell him what she'd found out from her cellmate.

Willow and Tara were busy. In front of Spike's chair, they'd set up a pile of paper and they'd tipped toner powder onto a tray and left it there. Willow took up her place behind Spike, but this time Tara stood behind Willow. The incantation was longer this time. As she spoke, a map formed in the air in front of Spike. Willow waved a hand and some of the toner moved to the top sheet of paper and made a faithful copy of the glowing map in the air. With a second wave of her hand, the toner fused in place. The map in the air started to change. It homed in on the central section, expanding as it did so. Again Willow waved her hand and again they soon had a paper copy of the map. This continued until there were six maps in total. As the glowing map in the air faded, Willow crumpled and Tara caught her.

They took Willow over to the couch and left Tara to look after her. Xander and Riley looked at the maps. Spike seemed intent on what was going on in his head. Within moments, Riley thought he recognised some of the geographical features on the first map. He logged onto the Internet and found a map of Minnesota. It matched. Moving to each subsequent map, they found they led to downtown Rochester. Riley immediately made a call. After a few moments he asked "How many going?"

Xander did a quick look round the room. "You, me, Tara, Willow, Spike, Dawn – 6?"

As he said each name he got a nod. "What are you planning?" Xander asked, puzzled.

Riley put the phone down. "Courtesy of the US Military – we leave in two hours from a military airfield 20 minutes from here. Can we all be back here, packed, in one hour?"

There were nods all round, but from Tara, "I don't know if Willow will be awake by then."

"If need be, we'll carry her," Xander replied. Turning to Riley he asked, "How'd you swing that?"

"Easy, I said it might be part of this thing I'm supposed to be investigating."

"It is." Spike's words surprised everyone. He'd been quiet throughout. "I've been talking to Buffy. Seems her cellmate's got some interesting information. I'll fill you in on the way." 

They left the airfield in a borrowed van and headed downtown. Rochester, Minnesota downtown area was a strange mixture. They found the area marked on their map and found it worked out as being close to the Mayo Clinic. Fortunately, Willow had wakened on the flight, but she was still terribly weak. "Good job a wheelchair doesn't look out of place around here," she smiled up at Tara who had insisted on pushing.

"Buffy says it's dark where she is. If there're vampires involved, it'll most certainly be where the sun never shines. Any tunnels round here?" Spike had cheered up immensely now he could talk to Buffy.

They quickly found there was an underground mall close to the clinic. Once down there, Tara did a quick spell which allowed her to gauge voids below. After a few minutes, she nodded her head. "Tunnels – an enormous number of them. They go down quite a way."

A few minutes later they found a "No Admittance" door, which opened on a stairwell going down. Despite Tara's protests, Willow insisted on getting out of the wheelchair. Trying to look inconspicuous, they went down. 

Spike was worried they had brought Dawn along. He had suggested she stay with Anya, but he wasn't really happy about that either so he let her talk him out of it. Now they were in a strange city, and he had no choice but to bring her. Spike found that if he concentrated hard enough, he could get a reading on Buffy's direction. Whatever Willow had done, he and Buffy were linked more clearly than before. The stairs led to a storage area for the mall. It took them several minutes to find another flight of stairs going down. In fact, the only ones who could see the doorway were Willow and Tara, so there seemed to be some magic at work there. This staircase went down a long way. The first couple of flights were like those above – tiled and fairly clean looking. After that, the steps became stone slabs cut out of bedrock, which became wetter and slimier the further they went. Willow was being supported between Riley and Xander while Spike took the lead. He knew Buffy was close now – he could feel it. At last Spike knew they had gone deep enough. His link to Buffy now led him along a narrow platform to the left of the stairs. He checked it out alone and came back to report an open area with no sign of security. With one look at Willow, Tara said, "I can make us less conspicuous – not invisible – maybe just not interesting enough for a second look. Problem is, I can't keep it up for long." She said a short incantation. To Spike, the world suddenly looked like it had been poorly edited – everything seemed to lurch and then returned to normal. With a nod from Tara they continued. 

The path was narrow and slippery, but they all passed relatively easily. Once beyond, Spike led them to the cell where Buffy was being held. He knew there was a cell there, and he knew Buffy was inside. Unfortunately, there was no door. There was no sign of guards of any sort. Spike let Buffy know they were there, but that they couldn't find a door. "They'll feed me in a while, I expect. That's normally been done by a Paul Newman lookalike," Buffy thought back at Spike.

Leaving Spike alone to try to watch, the others returned above ground. Dawn and Willow were going to the hotel they'd booked, Xander wanted to try to find some sort of explosive and Tara wanted to gather ingredients for a magic way of opening the cell.


	5. Chapter 5

****

Chapter 5

Now that she had recovered from her experience of being 'swallowed' by the lilac blob, Buffy worked constantly at freeing herself from where she was tied. Very slowly, she managed to loosen her bonds. She knew her friends were near, and she didn't plan to spend longer than she had to in her cell. It was obvious that her cellmate knew a lot about the plans of whoever was behind all of this – so she decided to free him as well.

Giles' information that the lilac blobs were likely to dissolve in an alkaline solution meant that Spike had several bottles of household bleach with him. He kept out of sight for some time before he saw a Turqoda ahead of him. It had dripped through from the rock above. Once on the floor its shape gradually became – Paul Newman? In his arms was a young woman. He walked towards where Spike knew Buffy was. Spike followed, keeping to the shadows. The Turqoda touched the wall and a doorway appeared. Taking his opportunity, Spike threw the contents of a bottle of bleach over the creature's back. With an agonised scream the Paul Newman look-alike started to melt, turning white as it did so. The woman fell to the floor. Spike immediately ran to the opening only to meet Buffy coming the other way – a dishevelled man in an arm-lock. Spike picked up the woman and the four headed for the stairs.

Spike used his mobile to contact Tara and they arranged to meet at the hotel. Spike had booked interconnecting rooms for him and Dawn and that's where they all met. The woman they'd rescued was still unconscious, lying on one of the beds. Buffy looked tired as she sat, sharing a chair with Spike. He had decided to hold on to her now he had her back, and Buffy had no complaints about that. Buffy's cellmate was tied to another chair. When they had all assembled, Buffy asked him to go over everything he knew.

"When you untie me," he replied. "I'm on your side now. Why d'ya want to tie me up?"

"Because we don't trust you," Buffy replied.

"Yeah, they kept me tied up for ages when I got chipped," Spike added, grinning wickedly.

Buffy's cellmate goggled at Spike. "Y ... you're subject 17! I recognise the voice. Should do, I listened to more than enough of it. But how, you got dusted?"

"True," Spike smiled at him, "but I wasn't finished with this world yet. Now, tell us what's going on."

"Well," he began, shaken, "I'm Dave Gordon. I'm an experimental psychologist with a background in electronics. Odd mix, I know, I s'pose that's why the Initiative involved me in the first place. The new players – well, I guess you could say it's a scheme for world domination. You see, someone decided that the only reason vampires haven't become the dominant life form on the planet is the fact that their predatory nature stops them from co-operating much. They can band together for a short while, but it doesn't often last. So, one, big shot vampire – I mean a really old one – never was told his name – heard about the whole chipping thing and decided to take it over. I'm not sure he realised how little success we'd had with it. I mean, he'd obviously heard about 17 – but maybe he thought that was typical. Anyway, he plans to make and chip vampires. They're going initially for strong, aggressive types who can be chipped and then used to turn people who are useful to the cause. You know, people with special skills. I'm surprised they've started yet. It's not that long since I finished my spec. on the chip. They can't have them in manufacture yet – or not in quantity, anyway. So, they probably took me because they want to keep me quiet. And I s'pose they could use 17's chip. But why did they take the two of you?" he looked at Buffy. They all looked at the girl apparently asleep on the bed.

As if she knew everyone was looking at her, the girl stirred. Tara immediately went over to the bed. The girl sat up suddenly, scared. "W what? W .. where am I?" she asked.

Tara gently sat down on the bed beside her and took one hand in hers. "You're safe. You were taken captive and we found you when we went to rescue our friend. But you're safe now." 

The girl apparently accepted this as she nodded and then started to cry, almost hysterically. Buffy extracted herself from Spike's arms and went over to the bed. "I know, it was terrifying. The lilac blob? It got me too. Painful. But it's over now. Just take your time. When you're ready, we'd like to hear who you are and what happened to you – it might let us understand what's going on a bit better." 

After several minutes, the crying subsided and the girl started to talk. "My name is Cara McDonald. I don't know much, I was on my way home one night. It was late. Before I got to my car, this lilac stuff came out of the ground and swallowed me. I felt myself melting. The next thing I knew, I was here." 

Riley stepped forward for the first time. He'd never really been one of the Scoobies, and now that he and Buffy weren't exactly on good terms, he'd held back as long as he was getting the information he needed.

"Hi," he started, "I'm Riley. I work for the government. The others are – unofficial. Can I ask where you work? What do you do?"

The girl looked up at him. "I'm a software engineer – at the MIT – researching AI systems. I recently published a paper on controlling AI systems – strange idea, but it's a safety feature. If you have an AI system which can evolve, become autonomous, how do you know it won't harm people eventually? I mean, it could evolve to know that it would have more control if there weren't people around. So, we have to have a control system in case that ever happens." 

Riley nodded. "Makes sense." He stood up. "I've gotta go and call in to control – let them know what I've found. I suggest we all get a good night's sleep and I'll arrange transport for the morning. Cara, how would you feel about a trip to California? I'm sure the people I work for are going to want to talk to you, and I expect you'd like to find out what you've let yourself get involved in."

Cara nodded. "I just need to call some people and let them know I'm ok." 

"If you'll let me, I'd like to get my people to do that for you just now. Chances are, your phones and those of your friends and family have been bugged. If you'll let me know who to contact, I'll set it up." 

Much later that night, Spike and Buffy were still trying to work out why she had been taken. No words were spoken, but the conversation was detailed. Spike had been telling Buffy about the Turqoda demons and the legend that they work for Alexandr. "That might be the vampire who's behind this whole thing. He's supposed to be Dracula's sire – imagine how old that makes him?" 

"Dracula? Do you think Dracula's involved?" Buffy asked.

"Well, If I'd ever wanted to take over the world, I'd want any who'd be loyal to me to be right in there," Spike answered.

"Remember, Dracula said, he'd be back for me. Could it be I was taken to ensure Dracula's loyalty to the cause?" Buffy reasoned.

"Could be," Spike's answering thought was a growl.

"Didn't know you did that any more," Buffy told him.

"What?"

"Growl – thought that was a vampire thing." 

"I've been a vampire longer than I've been a man. When I think of someone wanting to hurt you, it makes me angry. That's an emotion that's easier to express as a vampire." 

"What about love? Which part of you makes it easier to express love?" she asked snuggling even closer to him.

"Love for you? Doesn't matter at all, pet. Loved you as a vampire. Love you as a man. It's all the same."

Cara was given the choice between staying at a hotel, being a guest of the Military or having the spare room at the Summer's house. She chose the last option. As Dawn showed her upstairs, she chatted happily. "This was Buffy's room. I'm afraid it's still full of her stuff. When Willow and Tara moved out, she and Spike took the big room. That's full too."

They had stopped off at the Mall so Cara could get some spare clothes. Dawn unceremoniously emptied the contents of one of the drawers into another and pulled the clothes in the wardrobe over to make some room. As Cara unpacked her few things, Dawn sat on the bed. Cara was still reeling from what she'd learned about this group of people. Dawn seemed the most 'normal' of them. Of course they hadn't discussed her being the Key – yet. 

"I'm struggling to understand you people. I mean, you talk about vampires and witches and demons like I talk about subroutines. Are Willow and Tara really witches?" 

Dawn nodded.

"And Spike was a vampire? And Buffy is a Vampire Slayer but now she's married to Spike? Strange name that."

"Yeah, all true. Spike's real name's William – William Stevas - but here, he likes Spike better. When we went to London last year, everyone called him William. Seemed kinda weird."

Dawn watched Cara carefully. She'd already decided she liked her. She looked younger than her twenty-four years. She was slight and very blonde – taller than Buffy – maybe even taller than Dawn. She'd accepted everything she'd been told remarkably well.

When Buffy spoke to Giles later, she told him about her theory on why she had been taken. "Hm, yes, Buffy, I think you may be right. That would fit the pattern. Especially as Dracula's plans for you were part of his aim to make himself more powerful. He seemed to think that together you'd be unassailable. I've received some more information on the Turqoda. Well, rumour anyway. It comes from out our Russian office. Of course, we've only recently had regular contact with them. I asked them about Alexandr. They agree he has the Turqoda working for him. They also suggest he's been doing some experiments with them – changing them in some way that makes them more loyal. They couldn't give details, but I thought that might be helpful. The odd thing is, Alexandr has always been something of a recluse. He has rarely ventured out of his stronghold in Siberia before. By the way, what have you done with, what was his name – Dave .... "

"Gordon?" Buffy interrupted. "We left Riley to sort him out. I think the word he used was 'debriefing'."

"How is Riley?" Giles asked her gently.

"He's ok, but he's being very unreasonable," Buffy replied.

"In what way?"

"He's just so suspicious of Spike. Like he thinks Spike's hypnotised me or something. He can't accept that Spike and I are together in a way he and I could never've been. I mean, I thought I loved Riley, but I know now that I didn't. Not the way I love Spike. He's been horrible to Spike, but I think I mind more that Spike does."


	6. Chapter 6

****

Chapter 6

Riley's debriefing of Dave Gordon added very little to what he'd already told them. Riley arranged for a team to get into the tunnels in Rochester armed with bleach, but when they got there, all they found was a huge open cavern. Everything, right down to the cell walls, was gone.

Dracula received the news of the Slayer's escape very badly. Alexandr assured him it was a temporary setback, but Dracula suspected double-dealing. He thought that once Alexandr had seen the Slayer, he would realise her potential. For the moment at least, any thoughts of an alliance were on hold.

For the next few weeks, life in Sunnydale continued more or less normally. There was the small matter of carrying bottles of bleach whenever they went outside, but otherwise, it was as normal as things ever got at the Hellmouth. Relations between Riley and Buffy were slowly thawing – mainly because Riley was going to great efforts to keep his mouth shut and watch. Xander noticed that Cara was intrigued by Riley. He always had that 'strong silent type' thing about him anyway, but he was definitely being more silent than usual. Xander took the opportunity to clue her on Riley and Buffy's past. Cara seemed like a nice girl and he didn't want Cara mixed up with Riley. He still believed that Riley was right for his friend, and was convinced Buffy would realise it eventually.

They got an Email over Riley's secure line from Giles. It simply said, "Spy at the Council. No further communications." This took some consideration, and they started to wonder whether someone was spying on them. After all, a spy infiltrating the Watcher's Council seemed less likely than someone spying on the Scoobies. Inevitably, Riley and Xander immediately pointed a finger at Spike. It took them a while to find her without Spike, but when they did, they told Buffy what they'd 'worked out'.

"What if Spike is still being controlled. How do we know he's not still chipped?" Riley began.

Buffy considered walking away but changed her mind. She needed the gang together – she'd learned that lesson the hard way. "Giles told us the chip was taken by Lydia. If he was still chipped, he wouldn't have been able to hit you, would he?" 

"But, he could if the chip's program had been updated. And Giles didn't see the chip. He was told about it and we know he suspects someone at the Council," Xander answered.

"Well, apart from the fact that I KNOW there's nothing in his head that's not meant to be there, how did it get into his HUMAN body? It's not physically the same one he had before. It only took a few minutes for it to build from nothing. The dust couldn't have travelled from London in that time." Buffy was getting angry. How could they not trust her? They had no concept of how close she was to Spike.

She had no way to explain it adequately. She took a deep breath and sat down. "Just think for a minute, please. Imagine you can get right inside someone's mind. You can hear their thoughts, you can feel what they feel – their pleasure – their pain. Imagine you can know someone completely. That's how I know Spike. I was in his mind for weeks when I came back. I felt the chip. I even felt it give a warning jolt once or twice when you said something to annoy him." She looked at Xander accusingly. "I knew the chip was there. Then, later when we did it the other way round – when Spike was in my head. There was no chip. The difference was obvious. And now, even though we don't have THAT level of closeness, I still feel what he feels. And there's nothing in that that's caused by a chip. He's got no choice but to be completely honest with me – just as I have to be with him. I used to laugh when I heard someone say they'd found their soulmate. I don't any more."

Buffy got up and left the room. Both men looked at each other. They both felt a bit ashamed of themselves. They didn't discount their theory, but they started to look at others. Riley had arranged for a check for electronic monitoring equipment to be carried out and repeated daily – especially at the Magic Box. As a public place, nowhere could have been easier to plant something. The initial search was fruitful, but nothing was found afterwards.

Alexandr had been continuing his plot. Without Dracula's help, he couldn't yet start his main plan. More worryingly, his contact at the Watcher's Council had given him the news about the success rate of the chips. He had heard all about Spike and how he had turned to helping humans after being chipped. He knew of Spike's reputation and believed that if he could be tamed by a chip, it must work for anyone. Now he had to consider the possibility that his master plan would have to be put off for the moment. Even more irritating was the information that Spike had somehow found a way to become human again and had even married the Slayer. He hadn't met this Slayer but he knew she had bested Dracula and even Spike before he was chipped, so she had to be a formidable opponent. If she now had a partner – a husband – who knew everything about vampires – who could think and feel like one – that was worrying. Even without considering his long-term plans, this was a situation which could not continue. 

He called his faithful Turqoda to him. "Funny," he thought, "there used to be so many of them." Six apparently human forms stood before him. As well as Pierce Brosnan there were Bill Clinton, Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Robbie Williams and William Shatner. He had always insisted their human forms were male. "Oh, yes," he realised. That was why there were so few. His insistence on male forms had led to a gradual reduction in reproduction rates. It had been many years since young had been born to the Turqoda. There were many more than those here, of course, but they were not the same. Many years ago he had experimented on his creatures, creating many without autonomous function. They had all the physical properties of the Turqoda, but could not think for themselves. They did his bidding – changing form to accommodate him in every way. Everything in his dwelling was Turquoda. He'd even sent some to Rochester to make an impenetrable cell complex underground. A few were still doing his bidding elsewhere – recording what they heard. Gathering his thoughts, he spoke to the six autonomous servants he had remaining. "We have a threat to counter. The Slayer has married an ex-vampire. More worrying, he is reputed to have powers equal to her own. They cannot be allowed to live."

Back in Sunnydale, no new leads had been uncovered. Even the local vampire population seemed to have gone on holiday. Buffy and Spike continued as usual. They still meditated before training but now found they could communicate easily. They had even managed to loosen the connection when they needed to. During training sessions, they worked hard at not allowing the other to feel a punch or a kick as it landed. The last thing they needed was to have both of them incapacitated if one of them was hurt. Although neither of them had been hurt badly enough to give it a real test, their control was improving.

Cara had been given leave of absence from MIT at the request of the military and was still at the Summers house. Riley was a regular visitor and even managed to be civil to Spike most of the time. Buffy was really happy to see that Cara seemed quite smitten with Riley, especially when she saw Riley responding.

It was Sunday afternoon and they had all gathered at the Magic Box. They didn't have any real leads to discuss, but it was habit – there was a problem – so they got together. Xander was really fed up. Not only had they no new information, but he was the only one who still seemed to consider Spike a threat. "Look at him," he thought, "sitting there, like he owns the place. Well, technically, he does own the place – well half of it anyway."

But it was Willow and he who'd been with Buffy from the beginning. "What does she need me for now anyway?" he thought. "She's got Captain Peroxide looking after her every need. A physical match for her. Able to read her thoughts. Able to understand how she's feeling."

He had been getting more and more depressed for weeks. Being part of the Scoobies was central to his life. He'd never even have met Anya if it hadn't been for Buffy.

Anya had gone to an exhibition out of state for the weekend. It was something to do with merchandise for the Magic Box. She'd wanted to go and Spike had agreed to fund the trip. She wanted Xander to go with her, but he'd cried off saying he couldn't leave Buffy in case something happened. One look at her face told him she could see what he could see. "Why would Buffy need him when she had Spike?"

So, he'd spent most of the weekend drinking. By the time he'd arrived at the Magic Box, he was fairly unsteady on his feet. He sat in the corner, not talking, just thinking. Thinking about how Spike had taken his friend from him. Thinking about how she'd told him so long ago that she could never think of him as more than a friend. And then marrying THAT! And the way they were always touching. Sitting there, leaning into each other. Suddenly, it was all too much for him. He got up and started to head for the door. He had to get out of here. The sight of the two of them, sitting there together, it was too much. As he crossed towards the door, he tripped. Something had fallen off the counter and rolled into the middle of the shop. It shouldn't have been there and he tripped. He fell headlong, hitting his head hard on a metal re-inforced corner of a wooden packing crate Anya had wanted someone to get rid of while she was away. It splintered as his weight hit it. Somehow, one piece, about two inches wide, cut through his shirt and into his side. Xander was briefly conscious that he was bleeding all over the floor, then everything went black.

They were in the ambulance. The wooden spike was still buried in Xander's side. He had lost a lot of blood. Whatever it had done, a major blood vessel had been ruptured. Buffy sat looking at her friend. Spike sat beside her, holding her hand. They had left Dawn with the others. Willow agreed to try to contact Anya. 

When the others got to the hospital, Xander was in theatre. Willow hadn't wanted Buffy to go to the hospital with Xander, but Buffy had insisted. After speaking to Anya, Willow knew it wasn't a good idea for her and Spike to be there when he woke up. She took Buffy to one side. "I spoke to Anya. She's on her way. I told her Xander'd been drinking. She didn't seem too surprised. Said he'd been doing that a lot lately. He still can't cope with you and Spike. He's tried, but he feels he's not one of the group any more. He used to be an important part of things, but now it seems to him you don't need him any more. He blames Spike. Maybe it'd be better if you went back home. We'll call you as soon as there's news."

Spike heard every word of the conversation through their link. Buffy was immediately upset. Initially angry, then guilty, then angry again. He came over to her, put an arm around her and said to Dawn, "Let's go – we've got to clean up the mess at the shop before Anya sees it." Dawn started to protest, but one imploring look from Spike stopped her. She knew he'd explain later.

Spike could feel how upset Buffy was. She felt as if Willow was blaming her for Xander being in hospital. Spike knew that wasn't the case – and he was angry that Xander could make her feel like that – especially since it was Xander's own unreasonableness that was the problem. She wanted to hit something, so he sent her into the training room to take out her feelings on a punch bag. Spike got some cleaning things and went to start work on the bloodstains. Unfortunately, the blood wouldn't shift with the usual floor cleaner. He and Dawn had tried but had had no success. He suddenly thought about the bottles of bleach they'd bought wholesale to counter the Turqoda threat. They tried that, and at last found the bloodstains were fading. It was still hard work. Dawn had a floor brush and was scrubbing as hard as she could. Drops of cleaner were sprinkling over the counter support. She thought she heard a moan. "Did you say something?" she asked Spike. She looked up at him. He was sitting very still, listening closely. He put a finger to his lips. "There it is again," she thought. She looked around and was surprised to see the counter support changing appearance. Where she had splashed it with bleach, it had turned lilac and was now slowly turning white and melting. She picked up the bucket of solution she had been using and threw it at the surface. There was a dreadful scream and the whole counter shimmered lilac and then the outside surface melted away, turning white as it went through the floor.

Buffy had felt Spike's concern. She came back into the shop just in time to see the last of the Turqoda melt into the floor. Spike clapped Dawn on the back. "Well done, Little Bit. I think you've found our spy!"

Spike quickly sent an Email to Giles – 'We had a stain problem. Bleach cleared it up.' He hoped it was cryptic enough to confuse others, but good enough for Giles to understand.

The news from the hospital was good. Although Xander had lost a lot of blood, the damage was reparable and he was going to be fine.

That night, Buffy, Spike and Dawn had the house to themselves. Riley had asked Cara out for dinner 'to celebrate'. It was a wild night outside. Darkness had fallen really early and the thunderstorm showed no sign of slackening. They were not surprised when Cara called to say they'd been caught by a flash flood and she'd have to stay with Riley that night. Dawn gave her sister a knowing look and said "Flash flood!" with a grin on her face. Buffy hoped her sister was right. She really hoped Riley could find someone special.


	7. Chapter 7

****

Chapter 7

Because it was so dark, they didn't notice when it happened. The legion of controlled Turqoda oozed out of the ground and started to cover the house. Several separate lilac shapes were orchestrating their movements. When the process was complete, they waited for further instructions. Inside, Dawn went to bed. Spike and Buffy settled down to watch a film. Suddenly, Buffy heard something knocking at the windows. Instantly alert, she jumped up just in time to see black mist oozing through the air vent. The mist travelled to her hand and then became a letter, which settled on her palm. Intrigued, Buffy opened the letter. The handwriting was unbelievably archaic and only just legible.

__

Slayer,

You are in grave danger. Already your home is surrounded by Alexandr's Turqoda. Soon you will be dissolved within it and Alexandr will have you. Act now, before it is too late.

Dracula

Diving for her weapons chest, Buffy found a stake. Spike had been right behind her and had found a sword. 

They both headed for the front door. When they had opened it they found they could see nothing but black - no street lights, no lightning. They tried to step outside, but it was as if someone had sealed the doorway. "He said it was Turqoda," said Spike heading for the kitchen. Most of the bleach had been left at the Magic Box. He just hoped there was enough here. "There's more bleach in the basement," called Buffy as she ran downstairs.

Moments later they were back at the doorway. They threw some bleach at the opening. Sure enough, the black started to melt, but it was quickly replaced by more black, which dripped from above. The black began to change colour. "Go and get Dawn, we need to be able to get out of here when I've got this clear," Spike told Buffy.

He continued to use the bleach, as sparingly as he could, but every time he got an opening it was resealed. The house was creaking ominously – as if the Turquoda were already trying to destroy it. Moments later, Buffy returned with Dawn. "Bleach solution worked earlier," Dawn reminded them.

She ran to get buckets of water to which they added bleach. Now they had enough volume to make a difference. Bucketful after bucketful of bleach solution was thrown at the doorway. At last the rate at which it was replaced was slowing. As they reached the last few bottles of bleach, the opening was clear. On the other side of the doorway, six separate blobs were approaching. In the distance, Buffy knew a vampire was lurking. Pushing Dawn back into the house, Buffy and Spike stepped out with buckets ready. They threw what they had and ran to the house for more. Dawn had realised what was needed and two further buckets were waiting. They carried on until the Turqoda were all gone.

Alexandr now stood alone. He was in demon face and approached shouting, "My faithful servants, all destroyed. You will pay!"

Buffy attacked with a kick, which propelled the vampire out into the road. Spike followed and they fought as they always did now – as two halves of an incredibly efficient machine. "At least Dawn is safe," thought Buffy. Spike had just done a spinning kick at Alexandr and he lay sprawling on the ground. What Buffy saw now shocked her. The vampire she had seen moments ago in demon face had meant nothing to her. The one she saw on the ground, looking completely human, as he lay dazed, was Xander! Before she could say anything, Spike had finished his move and swept his arm down with the sword he'd reclaimed from the house. He removed the vampire's head with a single swipe. It dusted and everything was quiet. 

"I think we could say he didn't plan on hand to hand combat tonight," Spike grinned at Buffy. "That's what comes when you let others fight your battles for you. He was a pitiful excuse for a vampire."

He realised she was upset at something – he looked at her. "Th...that was Xander," she managed to think at him.

Spike shook his head. "Couldn't have been. He's in hospital. Look, I'll check."

He took Buffy indoors and sat her down next to Dawn. He walked to the phone.

"No, change? He's comfortable. Are you sure? You checked on him five minutes ago. I see. Thank you."

He joined his girls on the sofa. "He's fine. I don't know what you saw, but it wasn't Xander. I've got an idea, though. Xander once told me his name is a family tradition. Maybe, that was an ancestor."

As they sat there, they heard knocking on the window again. They looked up and saw a bat deliberately flying into the glass. Both armed with a stake, they went to the door and opened it. On the doorstep was Dracula. "Well done," he said when he had assumed human form. "You have done what I could not. You have destroyed my sire. I am now the most powerful of my line. Thank you."

He bowed towards Buffy and Spike. Spike asked, "What was it with your Sire? I've rarely met with such a pathetic excuse for a vampire. What was that about?"

"For many centuries, Alexandr was content to live in his stronghold in a remote part of Siberia. He did not interest himself in the rest of the world. The local people were terrified of the Turqoda. They have been supplying his victims, already dead. He was stupid, but he was my sire. "

"Tell me, Drac," Spike asked, what do you know about old Alexandr there? Was that his human name?"

"I believe it was Alexandr Harrisov or something. An old Russian family. Eldest sons always with the same name. You know the type. Ah, yes," he smiled, "your friend? You spotted the resemblance. Yes, it always gave me great satisfaction to use him as I did. Well, good bye for now. I will be back. I still intend to have you by my side, Slayer, but not yet. You are not ready for me yet. But you will be." Dracula dissolved into mist and disappeared.

Much later, Buffy was going through what Dracula had said. She didn't understand what he meant by her 'not being ready. Spike interrupted her thoughts, "Can't a bloke get any sleep in this place?" he thought good-naturedly. "You should know what he meant. I told you – back when I had an allergy to sunlight. Sooner or later, Slayers get a death wish. When they do, you can kill them. What he doesn't understand is that you're not like other Slayers. I didn't understand it back then either. What makes you different is your friends. You always have someone to live for. You've always had the gang, and Dawn, but most of all, you've got me!" His self-satisfied grin was backed up by a matching feeling in his head.

"Conceited much," she thought back at him.

"But you love me anyway. Still," Spike continued, "if he managed to turn you, you're soul would probably come to me and we could bring you back and then we'd go and sort out Dracula once and for all. You're not getting away from me, ever, Mrs. Stevas, understand?"

Buffy smiled and thought – not for the first time – that spending the rest of her life with Spike seemed like a very good idea.


	8. Chapter 8

****

Chapter 8

Much to Riley's obvious delight, Cara had been offered a permanent secondment to the Intelligence branch of his unit, and she moved out of the Summers' house. When Riley came to collect her, he stood awkwardly in the hallway waiting for Cara to come down with her suitcase. He still wasn't comfortable with Buffy and started to look embarrassed when she approached him. He decided to speak. "Buffy, I know I've been a fool – you know, about you and Spike. I made my decision to leave and you were entitled to do whatever you wanted to. Just because I was jealous of Spike – I shouldn't have acted the way I did. I can see he makes you happy. Even if he didn't, it still wouldn't have been my business to interfere, but it's good to see you happy. I don't think Spike and I'll ever be bosom buddies, but if he's in your life, I can accept that now. I'm sorry. Can you tell him?"

Buffy smiled at him. She walked up to him and gave him a hug. "Thanks, Riley. I don't want to be on bad terms with you. Yeah, I was angry with you, but Spike made me realise how things must have seemed to you – 'specially since you were out of the loop for so long. You might want to hold fire on not being 'bosom buddies' with Spike. I think he'd surprise you if you ever got to know him."

Cara came downstairs just in time to see Buffy step back from the hug. "Hey, do I have something to worry about here?" she asked, looking at Riley.

"Not at all," Buffy replied, giving her a hug too. "We're just mending some fences before you leave. That's good, isn't it?"

Cara smiled. "Yeah, he's not been too happy with the idea of leaving thinking you hate him. You don't, do you?"

"Never did," replied Buffy, "I was just angry. I've had time to cool down now, so we're ok."

Although they had enjoyed having Cara in the house, Buffy and Spike were glad it was just them and Dawn again. Dawn missed Cara more and started to find excuses to spend time with Anya. Things between Spike, Buffy and Anya were difficult. She had asked them not to visit Xander in hospital because she was worried that seeing them would make his condition worse. Their reports on Xander's progress had mainly come from Willow. Anya insisted on spending at least part of each day at work at the Magic Box, even though Spike had offered to cover for her. During one slow afternoon, Spike took the opportunity to ask her how things were going.

"He's coming out of hospital next week. The doctor says he's physically much better. It's just, he's going to have to see a psychiatrist for a while. He's still pretty irrational when it comes to you. He's said some dreadful things. I thought, if he didn't see you, he'd get back to normal, but it hasn't made any difference. He just isn't able to talk about anything else. I've tried to get through to him, but he's obsessed. I'm hoping he'll be better when he gets home. There're things we've got to discuss, and right now, he's just not listening."

"You know you've only got to ask if you need anything," Spike offered. "I mean it, medical expenses, time off, whatever. Just ask."

"No, Spike, that's not the problem. I mean, I made some investments, and the medical bills are covered. It's other things we need to discuss. But, I'd like to take a couple of weeks off when he comes home – you know – help him settle back in?" Anya asked. 

Spike thought he could see the beginning of tears in her eyes, but knew her well enough to know she'd say if she wanted anything more, so he left her cataloguing the new merchandise and went to serve the customer who had just come in.

Two days after Xander went home from hospital, Anya came into the shop. She was obviously distressed. 

"Hey, you aren't due back till a week on Monday," Dawn quipped as she came in. Dawn really enjoyed helping out after school. In fact she enjoyed the money she was earning even more. Seeing she was upset, Spike asked Anya to come over to the research table. He fetched two mugs of coffee and sat her down.

"What's wrong?" he began. "If you'd rather talk to Buffy, I'll ask her to come straight here. She was going to the library to do some research, but I'm sure she won't mind."

"No, it's just, I had to get out of the house. I thought, maybe I could be useful here. I'm certainly not doing any good at home. I don't think he even knows I'm there."

"Has he seen the psychiatrist yet?" Spike asked, concerned.

"Not since he was discharged. He was supposed to go this morning, but I had to cancel. He wasn't going anywhere," Anya replied. The tears which had been obvious in her eyes now started to flow down her cheeks.

Despite what Anya had said, Spike sent out a plea to Buffy to come to the shop as soon as she could. Dealing with crying women had never been his strong point. After a few minutes, Anya seemed to decide that she had to tell someone, so she launched in with, "I've been trying to tell him. He won't listen. Thing is, I'm pregnant. I found out for sure, just after his accident. I'm three months pregnant, and he doesn't know. I've told him, I've said the words, but he didn't listen. I don't know what to do."

Spike got up and walked to Anya's side of the table. He put a hand on each of her shoulders, but was very relieved when Buffy walked in. He mentally told Buffy the news, and made an excuse to leave and make more coffee.

Much later, when they closed up the shop, they took Anya home. Buffy went up to the apartment with her. Five minutes later, Buffy asked Spike to come up too. Anya was lying on her bed, crying. The room looked like it had been ransacked. A quick check of the drawers showed that Xander's things were missing. There was no note. On the dining table was Anya's appointment card for pre-natal checks. It had been ripped to shreds. Ignoring her protests that she had to be there in case Xander came back, Buffy and Spike helped Anya back out to the car and took her home with them.

They didn't see him, lurking in the shadows outside the building. He watched them bundle a sobbing Anya into the car and drive off. "That's it, first he took Buffy and Dawn from me, now he's taken Anya. He's going to pay. I'm going to kill him."

Next morning, Anya insisted on going back home. When Buffy objected that she shouldn't be alone, Anya asked if Dawn could stay for a while. Buffy agreed. As far as she knew, Xander had never threatened Dawn, and Anya certainly didn't feel personally threatened by him. She did make sure Dawn had a mobile phone with her and gave her instructions to call if anything happened.

That evening, Willow and Tara came home from classes to find Xander sitting in their lounge. Willow was aghast at how he looked. He obviously hadn't washed or shaved in a few days. He was looking really gaunt. Somehow he hadn't seemed too bad in the hospital. Willow motioned to Tara to go and make coffee and sat opposite Xander.

"So, what's happening? I hear you moved out of your apartment. Where're you staying?" she began. 

Xander paid no attention to what she'd said. "You know what he's done, don't you. I found out – Anya's pregnant. Can't be mine, I've been in hospital. Must be his. I knew he'd hurt Buffy. She'll know I was right when you tell her. Then we can sort him out together. The whole gang. Like it should be. Good going after evil."

Willow interrupted. "Xander, I know Anya's pregnant. Buffy told me. But it **is** yours. Anya's three months pregnant. She was pregnant before your accident – she just didn't get it confirmed. It's like that sometimes. Sometimes women can go the whole nine months without knowing. But it's your baby. It's not Spikes."

The look Xander gave Willow hurt her more than anything he could have said. It told her that she had been his last hope and that she had abandoned him. "I thought I could trust you, Willow, I thought at least you wouldn't have been fooled by him. I'll just have to kill him myself." Xander got up and left the apartment. Tara had come into the room just in time to see him leave.

"Willow," she began, "there's something strange going on. Did you see his aura? It wasn't Xander. I don't know who it was, but it wasn't Xander. I know it's been a bit out of shape since the accident, but it's completely different now."

"He said he's going to kill Spike. We've got to warn them," Willow replied, not really listening to Tara's words. Tara nodded and walked to the phone. Buffy answered.

"Buffy, we just had a visit from Xander. Willow's really shaken. He said he was going to kill Spike. But his aura was so different. It's like something else has taken him over. Like maybe he's possessed or something."

Willow called over to Tara, "He thinks Spike's the father of Anya's baby. He's completely crazy."

Tara added this news to Buffy. "That's crazy," she replied. "Anya's baby's due in March. He must know it's his."


	9. Chapter 9

****

Chapter 9

In London, Giles was dreaming. It was a dream he'd had from time to time over many years. It involved a set of scrolls known to have been found three hundred years ago at Tintagel in Cornwall. These scrolls had never been translated. They were in no known language, and even modern decryption software had found no pattern in them. In his youth, Giles had dreamed of being the one to finally solve the mystery of the Tintagel Scrolls. This dream was different from those he had before. This time, he was able to translate the words, not as a result of hard work, but simply by reading them. It was as if they had been translated into English for him. Next morning Giles smiled at the absurdity of the dream.

Spike was closing up the shop. Anya had already gone home and Spike wanted nothing other that to get home to Buffy. Anya was still working short hours and Spike was coming to the conclusion that he needed to get someone else to work for him so he could spend more time with Buffy. Still, he was pleased with one piece of work for today. He had phoned Anya's landlord and discovered that the rent on her apartment was overdue. He had arranged that he would pay it until Xander got himself sorted out. Anya really didn't need anything else to worry about just now. He was so busy with his thoughts, he didn't see Xander in an alleyway across the street.

When he was sure the coast was clear, Xander slipped over to the Magic Box. He had Anya's spare shop key in his hand and slipped inside unseen. Once there he made for the training room at the back. One of the first things Spike did after he bought out half of the business from Giles, was to have a shower fitted out there. When he and Buffy trained, they could now shower before going home. The thing was, Buffy always took longer to cool down after her work out, so Spike showered first. So all he had to do was fix the shower so that the next person to use it had a tragic 'accident'. It was simple. The only disadvantage was that he wouldn't get to see Spike die. Still, the effect would be the same, and with Spike out of the way, he could go back to being important to Buffy. He might even forgive Anya.

The following evening, Dawn and Anya were minding the store while Buffy and Spike had their work out. Anya was arranging some new merchandise on the shelves. She had a box of obsidian orbs and another of jade dragons. "Silly people," she thought, "the obsidian orbs are far more powerful, but people prefer to look at the jade dragons, so they sell better."

Just then, Spike came out. He had obviously just finished an energetic training session. "Buffy's going to shower first," he said, "because I wanted to check everything's ok here." He walked over to Anya as she arranged an orb next to a dragon. Suddenly, there was a small explosion and all the lights went out. Buffy came out of the training room complaining that the electricity had gone. Anya was surprised. "There must be more to those jade dragons than I thought," she mused to herself.

"Never mind, pet," Spike consoled Buffy, "You can shower at home. We might as well close up now anyway. I'll get an electrician in first thing to find out what happened."

Next morning, the electrician found the problem quickly. "I'm not sure how it happened, but I'd say you were very lucky. The main fuse has gone. don't know why that happened before the shower killed somebody, but I'm glad it did. Either this thing was fitted by a complete incompetent, or someone wants you dead!" he told a worried Spike. 

Spike felt sick to think how close Buffy had been to death last night. After Willow's description of her visit from Xander, he had no doubt who was responsible.

The following evening, Willow and Tara came round to talk about how to stop Xander. The witches reported that they had been trying to track him magically, but that he was shielded. "When did Xander learn to shield himself from one of our spells?" Willow asked. 

"He didn't. The only explanation is what I said the other night. He's possessed by some sort of spirit and that's what's shielding him," Tara replied.

In a dark room in a broken down building on the other side of town, Xander sat in a chair muttering. He was surrounded by vampires, but he didn't seem to see them. They made no attempt to attack; in fact, they seemed to be treating him with some sort of respect.

In London, Giles had the same dream. Again he could read the Tintagel scrolls. The next morning, he went to the council library and found a copy of the scrolls. To his amazement, he understood the words perfectly. He immediately phoned Wesley Wyndham-Price in Los Angeles. He was at his desk, reading the Tintagel Scrolls. He could understand them too.


	10. Chapter 10

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Chapter 10

Giles and Wesley compared notes as they read through the copies they had. Sometimes they had a minor disagreement on detail, but in the end, they came up with a translation they could agree with:

__

The end of an era approaches. On the shortest day when the sun appears twice, will the chance occur to rid the earth of the nightwalkers. Only one chance exists to save mortal kind from eternal slavery. At the Hellmouth battle will rage. If the dark force can open the Hellmouth before the task is complete, Dark will prevail. The task will take place at the standing stones in the great plain of Salisbury. 

The Dark force has chosen vessels at need throughout the ages. Light chose five vessels at the dawn of time. Others may join them out of love, loyalty and duty. The five vessels of light may be recognised thus:

Two, twice dead,

Joined since earliest days,

Reunited by love for the Key.

They shall be sundered for the task.

She to her duty at the Hellmouth,

He to support and strengthen the Key.

The Key, mystic energy,

Enmeshed in human form.

She shall create a new earth,

An abode for those enmeshed by dark.

One, dead, unique, Nightwalker,

Cursed lest he lose,

The bright light he bears.

He must protect the Key and her Strength.

He will be the Sacrifice.

One, ancient being,

Seeker of retribution,

Newly Souled,

Bearer of New Life,

She shall be the redemption of the vessel of dark.

The two Englishmen read the over translation in stunned silence. When they had finished, Giles spoke up. "Two who have died twice – obviously one is Buffy, but the other one, could it mean Spike? He brought Buffy back because of Dawn – we know Dawn is the Key. Could that be right? Buffy and Spike joined in some mystical way?"

"It could be," Wesley answered. "Wait, though, the nightwalker – the bright life – could that be a soul? Does it mean Angel? And what does it mean by sacrifice? Is he going to die?"

"I'm afraid you may be right," Giles said, sounding sombre. "The last one, the newly souled seeker of retribution – that almost sounds like Anya, but I don't understand the 'bearer of new life' reference. It doesn't seem likely it would mention her soul twice, does it? And why would she redeem the vessel of dark?"

"At least the time and place seem clear," Wesley responded. "The standing stones reference is quite clear. Something is going to happen at Stonehenge. And it's going to happen on the shortest day of the year – there's going to be a total eclipse of the sun that day. If it's clear, the Salisbury plain is one of the best places to view it."

"I need to share this with Buffy. I'll see if they can elucidate on any of the details. Will you discuss it with Angel? I can't say I envy you that task. But then telling Buffy that Angel may be required to sacrifice himself isn't exactly something I'm relishing." Giles sounded grim.

A little light research gave the final details as regards time. Sunrise on the 21 December was 8.32am GMT. The eclipse was due to end at 9am, which just happened to be midnight in Sunnydale. Giles was sure he had seen references to some of the descriptions in other books he had read over the years and so he delved deeply into the library at the Council headquarters. When it was daylight in Sunnydale, Giles rang Spike at the Magic Box. He explained briefly what had happened, and asked if he could arrange a meeting of the gang. Spike agreed to let the named players know about the prophecy before the meeting.

By the time the meeting convened, Giles had e-mailed a transcript of the prophecy. The group – Buffy, Dawn, Spike, Anya, Willow and Tara read it in silence. They were able to confirm the identity of the fifth vessel of light quickly – Giles had the disadvantage of not knowing about Anya's pregnancy. Tara spoke the words the others didn't want to. "If Anya's the fifth vessel of light, the vessel of dark must be Xander. It fits with him being possessed. Anya has to go to Stonehenge to save Xander."

No sooner had Giles finished the call with the group in Sunnydale than he got a call from Riley. When Giles had heard about the existence of a psychological profile on Spike, he had asked Riley if he could share the information when it was available. Apart from his need to protect Buffy should anything go wrong, he also felt it would provide useful information which could be used in the training of future Watchers. The report was now complete.

"It looks like Spike was in turmoil when he was first chipped. Having to abstain from attacking humans was very difficult – even with the incentive of the chip. The interesting thing was that he was the only subject who got through this first stage. When Spike found he could attack demons without the chip kicking in, he went through a sharp learning curve, but soon regained a mental balance. This implied that he already had a measure of control before he was chipped," Riley paraphrased from the report.

"That agrees with something Spike told me himself," Giles added. "It seems that after he was turned, he managed to maintain a relationship with his brother. It was all done in secret, of course, but his brother eventually died of old age. Spike chose not to attack him. Then there's more. I've re-read the Council records on Spike. He was never known for wanton killing. He seems to have had an original rampage after he was changed, but then he settled down. The thing is, there is a crude social structure in vampire society. It pretty much boils down to 'dominate or be dominated', but it is important if a vampire intends to last. Most vampires dominate by the number or viciousness of their kills. Angelus was unusual – he certainly went for cruelty, but he also had a certain predilection for a perverse elegance. Spike did neither. He certainly killed to feed, but other than that, he seemed to go for 'quality over quantity'. He killed those other vampires would not attempt. For example, he is the only vampire on record who single-handedly killed two Slayers – the ultimate target."

Giles went on to share the prophecy, explaining where the various players fitted. "In fact," he continued, "information from this prophecy solves some mysteries I was already puzzling over. According to all the information I had, Spike should not have been able to use the method he did to bring Buffy back last year. Their souls should have been incompatible. Yet they were able to co-exist in one body on two separate occasions without the disastrous side effects documented elsewhere. This prophecy implies that they were somehow linked long ago. It might also give another clue to the reason for William the Bloody's obsession with Slayers. He may have recognised something in them – something familiar. It was only with Buffy that he found the complete match. It may even explain why Buffy felt so strongly about Angel. He's a vampire from the same bloodline as Spike. It certainly merits consideration."

Giles promised to keep Riley up to date on progress on understanding the prophecy. Riley agreed to try to get some back up if a battle at the Hellmouth was really on the cards. "I'm concerned that Buffy could actually be on her own there – the other mentioned players all have to come to England. I'd be a lot happier if she had some support," Giles told him.

Having spoken to Giles, Riley went back to his own work. On the surface, it seemed that the threat caused by Spike's chip and Alexandr's plans had been thwarted. Riley's naturally suspicious mindset, however, had caused him to carry on investigating. He was in the process of ploughing through a stack of reports on facilities around the world with the capability of mass-producing chips like the one used by the Initiative. By tracking shipments of certain rare elements specific to these chips, but used rarely elsewhere, he had discovered something worrying. There was a new factory in the former Soviet Union. It was rumoured to be run by the Russian Mafia. Two months ago, it had ordered a huge consignment of one of these rare elements. Satellite information showed quite clearly that the factory was in use. He thought for a few moments. "Surely," he reasoned to himself, "the whole chip thing was a failure. Why would they be continuing – even if someone else was available to take over running the operation after Alexandr was eliminated? Then it dawned on him. The reason the chip was a failure when the Initiative tried to use it, was because it attempted to stop aggressive behaviour. If that was not part of the programming – if the point of the chip was simply to decide the direction of the aggression – who knows. The chips could very well work. Somewhere in the world, an army of vampires could be massing."


	11. Chapter 11

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Chapter 11

It was two weeks since the initial translation of the prophecy. Giles had spent the time accessing the library of the Council of Watchers and had called a meeting to discuss his findings. He was on the phone, and Spike had written some details on a flip chart.

Dark possesses at random

Suspect current vessel is Xander

Light chose its players early- probably shielded from notice to protect them

Angel and Spike – both vampires – both apparently born too early

Anya – vengeance demon

Buffy – already dead twice

Dawn – energy hidden in human form

If any one is not in place at the right time, dark will succeed

Giles added some further information. "Hints in the Tintagel Scrolls gave pointers to details elsewhere. I believe the dark spirit resided primarily in the vampire Alexandr for many hundreds of years. Alexandr was something of an enigma. Extremely long-lived, yet a recluse. In fact, until the plot you uncovered recently, he was almost unknown outside his native Russia. I believe parts of the Dark spirit – tendrils if you like – were able to infect others as required. It may be that any number of the foes you have all defeated in your lifetimes were in fact partially possessed by this spirit. There is evidence that a spirit like this can 'sniff out' ill feeling towards an individual. It can then use the ill wisher to do its bidding. I suspect this is what happened initially with Xander. He was unhappy about – as he saw it – being usurped by Spike. The Dark spirit somehow intensified these feelings. However, when Alexandr was killed, the spirit had to find a new home. I believe it found that in Xander. The timing is about right. His behaviour towards Spike changed dramatically around the time of Alexandr's demise, isn't that true?"

Several heads nodded.

"Well, it's only a theory, of course, but it would explain what happened," Giles continued.

"And could Alexandr being an ancestor of Xander make that more likely?" Buffy asked. "I saw him. Just before Spike killed him. I thought he had killed Xander. The likeness was amazing. And Dracula confirmed it. He said they were related."

"That is a distinct possibility – a recognition of the familiar," Wesley responded.

"There's something more," Buffy added. "Riley called me. He's found evidence that the whole 'chipped vampire' thing is still happening. Apparently there are some ingredients in these Initiative chips which aren't used for much else. He's been tracking shipments of those elements, and found large quantities heading for a new high-tech production facility in the former Soviet Union. He promised to let me know if he finds anything else, but we could still be looking at a co-ordinated vampire army."

This news was met with a stunned silence until Tara asked, "But who's controlling the operation? I thought Alexandr was running the show?"

"Well," Wesley reasoned, "If Alexandr really had been running the show, it probably would have been over. But Giles said Alexandr was possessed the way Xander is now. What if the actual production of the chips was being done by someone else? Someone still under the influence of the dark power? At best, what you achieved before will only have been a minor inconvenience."

"But, the chips don't really work, do they?" Buffy asked. That's what that Dave guy told us. Spike was the only success."

"The only success in terms of stopping aggression towards humans," Spike answered. "If the point of them is to direct aggression rather than stop it, who knows?"

The discussion continued in small groups for several minutes before Giles managed to pull everyone together. 

"It's November now, we only have a few weeks to decide how we handle this situation," he continued when the others were quiet. "Some people have to be in a particular place. Spike, Dawn, Anya, and Angel have to be at Stonehenge. If we're right, somehow Xander will be there too. Buffy has got to be at the Hellmouth. The rest of you can choose if and how you wish to be involved. Riley has promised a team of some kind at the Hellmouth. I feel I have got to stay in England. The best library of the arcane in the world is right here, and I intend to keep researching anything that might give us an edge until the last moment."

One by one the others who were not specifically mentioned in the prophecy spoke up. They would all stay at the Hellmouth.

****


	12. Chapter 12

****

Chapter 12

Everything was arranged. Flights were booked. They were due to arrive in London on the 16 December. Buffy felt as if the world had ended anyway. She hadn't yet thought beyond Spike leaving. She knew she had to save the world again – she had to defend the Hellmouth – but she remembered all too clearly how she had felt when Spike had been in London before. She knew Spike felt the same, but he was better at covering – at least on the outside. She got the impression he was hiding something – but they had an unspoken agreement not to pry too hard if one of them wanted to keep a secret from the other – after all, what fun was a birthday present if you already knew what the parcel held?

They met at the Summers house – the cab was due to leave from there. Spike, Anya and Dawn sat with Buffy during those last minutes. Wesley was due to come back to Sunnydale to help in any way he could. Willow and Tara arrived to say their goodbyes. The travellers were due to fly to New York. At JFK they were supposed to meet Angel and go on from there together. Thinking about Angel, Buffy went back to the call she'd made to him after the prophecy had first been understood. He'd seemed very calm. She'd been upset at the thought of him being the sacrifice, but he told her not to worry about him.

"Remember when you jumped off the tower? You did that to save Dawn and the rest of us. This is my chance. My chance to do something really worthwhile. Living here in LA, I can help people – one or two at a time. If I can do this, maybe I can wipe my slate clean. Maybe I can finally forgive myself for Angelus' crimes."

Buffy had cried after that call while Spike held her. He'd known what was said. He'd listened in on the call as she made it. He felt it too. His recent dealings with his Sire had not been too cordial, but they were on the same side now.

The cab was outside. The whole group headed for the door, luggage in hand. Buffy hugged Anya then Dawn. Last she turned to Spike. She held onto him so tightly he thought she wasn't planning to let go at all. At last she did, and with one last kiss, one last admonishment to look after Dawn, he was gone. She watched as the cab pulled away, then walked back into the house with that awful empty feeling she knew she'd feel. Willow and Tara had gone into the kitchen to put on some coffee and she sat in the lounge with her feet on the seat in front of her, hugging her knees. She felt Spike's touch on her mind. 

"Buffy, I know you've been dreading this. Truth be told, I've not been looking forward to it myself. But it's not like last time. We can still talk."

"I know, it **is** much easier when we can be together like this," she thought back at him. "But I can't touch you."

His thought smiled back at her. "Not as such, no. Close your eyes."

"Why?" she asked him, puzzled.

"Just do it, trust me," he replied.

As she did, she felt his lips on hers, felt his arms around her, holding her tight. It was as if he had memorised the feel of him in every nerve of her body. She opened her eyes again to convince herself he wasn't really there. The kiss stopped and she heard his thought.

"Enough for now, Dawn's looking at me as if I've finally lost my grip on reality. Why don't we continue this later, when we're both alone?"

Buffy was in the process of mentally agreeing to this suggestion when Willow came back in with two mugs of coffee, closely followed by Tara. She looked quizzically at Buffy who realised she had been sitting with a silly grin on her face, and reddened slightly.

"What time's Wesley due?" Tara asked to change the albeit unspoken subject. 

"Later this afternoon," Buffy replied collecting her thoughts. "He's going to have the spare room here – there's no point in him going to a hotel."

Giles met the travellers at Heathrow. Their mood was generally quite morose. The news that Angel was to be a sacrifice had affected all of them to some extent – with Angel apparently the least concerned. Dawn was worried about her role in the event which was due in five days. She didn't have a clue what was expected of her and no amount of 'you'll understand when the time comes' type of comment had helped. Anya was scared for herself and for Xander. She was hopeful she could bring him back from whatever insanity had possessed him and relieved in some ways that she finally knew the cause of his behaviour.

They stayed in London initially. Giles had offered his spare room to Angel, and Anya was going to share with Dawn at Spike's flat. When they arrived, Dawn went around re-familiarising herself with the rooms, noticing many things she hadn't on her first visit. She took Anya around with her, trying to remember what Spike had told her about the things which were really old, which had come out of his family home. They stopped to admire a painting. Dawn didn't really like it – it was dark like old paintings often were. The woman in the picture looked familiar and she remembered Spike telling her it was his mother – painted shortly after her marriage. She seemed to look a lot like Spike – or at least the way he would if he didn't bleach his hair. She had mid-brown hair and very blue eyes. She also had his well-defined cheekbones. She was wearing a lot of jewellery. Dawn supposed that was the custom then. There was a tiara, earrings and a beautiful necklace set with what looked like diamonds. As she looked down at her hands, she saw Mrs. Stevas was wearing a matching bracelet and ring. "Must have been worth a fortune," she thought. As Dawn was looking at the picture, Anya was running her hands around the heavy gilt frame. With a sigh of satisfaction she said "I knew that frame wasn't sitting right," and pulled an envelope out from behind the picture– yellow and very aged. The faded writing on the front could still be made out – it was addressed to William Stevas.

The two girls rushed out to the lounge to give Spike the envelope. He took it from them in surprise and gently pulled at the wax seal which closed it. He pulled out a sheet of paper and a small key.

__

My Dearest Brother,

I buried my dear wife today and suspect my turn will not be long in coming. I'm sorry I could not let you know of her passing; I know you would have come to me had you known.

With Emily gone, I have no further need for the family jewels. They should have gone to your wife, but as things were, Emily enjoyed wearing them for many years. I hope you can one day find someone to wear them for you – not a wife perhaps – that would be too much to ask – but someone you care about.

I have made arrangements for the family money to come to you. I know you say you don't need it, but your future could be very long indeed. It always did me good to see you unchanged as I grew old.

When you hear that I'm gone, don't grieve for me. Emily and I had many years of happiness and many good friends.

Back to the point of the letter. I always thought you were the one who could never get to the point. The jewels are hidden where our mother always kept them. I will not say more in case this letter is found by someone else. I know you will remember. The key will give you access to the box.

Your loving brother,

John

When Spike finished reading the letter, he had tears in his eyes. When he had realised this was a letter from his brother, he had quickly hidden his thoughts from Buffy – initially so he could sort out his own thoughts before sharing them. Now he was glad he had. Those jewels rightly belonged to her, but he wanted them to be a surprise.

He quickly folded the letter, refusing to let the others read it. "Later," he told them, "maybe later. It's a letter from my brother – who's been dead for sixty – odd years. For now, I'd like to keep it to myself."

Later that night, when he was sure Dawn and Anya were asleep, Spike got up and moved silently across his bedroom. His mother's dressing table was against the wall next to the window. Kneeling on the floor, he felt under the base, feeling for the catch he knew was there. When he found it he quickly searched his memory for the correct sequence of movements to open the compartment. "There," he thought, as he felt the catch spring open. A large jewellery case fell into his hand. He took it back with him as he sat on the bed and opened it with the key. He had forgotten how beautiful they were. "No, wait," he thought, "there's something else here." A small velvet pouch held something, which was not part of the original set. He pulled out a dainty pair of sapphire earrings and a matching necklace and bracelet. They were much simpler in style than the diamond set – much more appropriate for this day and age. He smiled as he remembered his mother telling him they were a present from his father when their first child – when he was born. Funny, he couldn't remember his father well. He had died while his sons were still children. His mother had carried on alone only long enough for her boys to reach adulthood before following her beloved husband. He couldn't remember his father well, but he remembered their love for each other as if it was something current. "Enough," he thought, "if I get any more morose, Buffy's bound to feel it and worry. I wonder what the time is in Sunnydale." He looked at his watch. "Too early," he realised, disappointed. "I suppose I'll just have to get some sleep and catch her later when she goes to bed."

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	13. Chapter 13

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Chapter 13

At the Hellmouth, Riley had spent the last few days gathering supplies. He planned to surround the Hellmouth with obstacles of every kind. He didn't know exactly what to expect, but the prophecy said 'war will rage' and he took that seriously. With Wesley's help, Willow and Tara had perfected a barrier spell. They were confident that so long as they could keep it going, it would prevent anyone from actually reaching the opening. The problem was, they had to be close. They couldn't keep the spell going from a distance, so the main thrust of the defence was essentially going to be directed to keeping them safe.

On 19th December, the Stonehenge group had bundled themselves into a large camper van. Giles had hired it and spent some time using every charm he knew to keep out demons. He wasn't sure if it would pass as a home with respect to keeping out vampires, and was very relieved when Angel had to be specifically invited in. 

Because of the effects of erosion of the site, visitors were not normally allowed to bring vehicles beyond the car park at Stonehenge. Giles had arranged through the Council for special dispensation. The drive down to Wiltshire took two hours. The weather was very uninspiring – cloudy and grey with heavy rain giving way only to a continuous drizzle. The only advantage of the weather was that Angel didn't have to hide from the sun.

The closer to Stonehenge they got, the fewer people they saw. Given the expected total eclipse, this was surprising. Stopping to re-fuel the van, Spike asked why everything was so quiet. The answer was alarming. "Seems this area has turned into an English Sunnydale," Spike told the others. "He didn't use the word, but it sounds like the area has been invaded by vampires – and not just a few. I just wonder how many've been chipped."

It was just after dark when the van emerged on the site of Stonehenge. Giles parked the van outside the circle, just twenty metres from the nearest stones. There was no move to get out – after eating they all simply settled down for an uncomfortable night.

Dawn finally got the chance to have a look around the next morning. "It's a pity you can't see it in the sunshine," Spike told her. "When you think this was started around 3,500 BC, the place really is amazing." The comment about the sunshine was accurate. They still hadn't seen any sunshine since leaving London.It was a difficult day. Tempers where frayed and there was little to do beyond worry about what the following dawn had in store. When the sun went down that night, Angel started keeping watch. He had the best night vision and there was no light apart from that generated by the Camper Van. By 9pm he saw them. On the other side of the circle from them, a horde of vampires had started to gather. They made no move to enter the circle or even go around it. They simply stood there as if holding vigil.

In Sunnydale, it was noon. "Midnight tonight," Buffy thought to herself as she looked out weapons for the upcoming battle. "Then it'll all be over." The only consolation was the thought that if she failed, she'd be unlikely to suffer the consequences. Then she realised that Spike and Dawn might survive and she steeled herself to ensure the Hellmouth would not fall that night. Not for the first time in her life did Buffy wish the only things she had to worry about were the normal things like whether she'd finished her Christmas shopping.

Her plan was to take the area around the old school during daylight. No one came around there any more anyway. Too many strange things were seen that close to the centre of everything. Riley's team numbered 50. He had hoped for more, but got the impression his superiors didn't really believe in the prophecy. Most of these he stationed in the grounds, outside the ruins of the school. The immediate area around the Hellmouth was too small for many. Apart from Buffy, Willow, Tara, Wesley and Riley, only another 3 were to be deployed there. The way into that point was as secure as modern armaments and too little time could make it.

Buffy and her team arrived at 4.30. They tried to make themselves comfortable – but it wasn't really an inviting place. They'd brought some food even though none of them felt much like a picnic. Half an hour before sunset, Willow and Tara began to erect the barrier. Wesley watched them with a critical eye. Although he had only minimal power himself, he had been pivotal in increasing the strength of the barrier. He understood the theory behind the spell much better than either witch – he simply couldn't work it reliably. He was armed with a sword from Angel's armoury. Buffy had a sword and crossbow available, but suspected she would end up using feet, hands and stakes. Everything was too close here for the other weapons. Riley and his team were armed with tasers as well as some contraption which seemed to have been altered to fire either live rounds or wooden pellets. Five minutes before sunset Buffy looked round her team. They were as ready as they could be.

The first sign of action at the Hellmouth came five minutes after sunset. In the distance there were several small explosions. Riley got details by radio. "There's a huge crowd of vampires heading this way. No details of numbers yet, but someone is guessing hundreds. Looks like we're seriously outnumbered," he told the others.

It took some time before any vampires made it through the outer defences, but news from outside was not good. Casualties were heavy. When the first vampires made it to the immediate area of the Hellmouth, it was 11.15. Buffy, Wesley and Riley made sure Willow and Tara were as well protected as they could be, and the battle began in earnest.


	14. Chapter 14

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Chapter 14

The horde continued to arrive at Stonehenge. Estimating numbers was difficult, but there were certainly hundreds. By 3am, Angel spotted a lone figure off to one side of the huge mass of vampires. It took him a while to recognise it as Xander. He looked terrible. He had obviously lost a lot of weight. He hadn't shaved in weeks; his hair had grown to his shoulders. Angel was glad he couldn't see his face more clearly from here. He knew it wouldn't be a pretty site.

Giles was still worrying over how everything was going to work. He was confident that the other members of the team would do what they had to. He had given himself the job of ensuring the safety of the team as a whole before the task began. He had been reading constantly since translating the prophecy, trying to find out what he should do, but had come up with nothing. At the moment, he didn't see how the team could leave the camper van without being instantly annihilated. It came down to trusting that whatever this power of Light was, it would have found a way. Trusting something he didn't understand didn't come easily to Giles, but in the end that was all he could do.

It was fifteen minutes until sunrise. Although the time of the task seemed to be the second 'sunrise' i.e. after the eclipse, they had decided to take up position. They emerged from the van into the rain which still fell, making the ground all around them slippery. As they slithered towards the circle, they found they were constrained in an area immediately opposite the horde of vampires. "If they are constrained in the same way," Giles reasoned, "that explains why we haven't been attacked already." They waited. At least sunrise wouldn't be a problem for Angel. Cloud cover was still complete.

The team in the immediate vicinity of the Hellmouth was hard pressed. Only the cramped conditions saved them. There was simply not room for more than a dozen or so vampires at any one time. The accumulated dust from those they had already destroyed seemed to be in everything. Buffy could feel it caking on the perspiration on her face and down her back. She felt herself inhaling it with every breath. And still they kept coming. She glanced at her watch. It was 11.46.

Sunrise at Stonehenge was a very muted affair. The light level changed only slightly. Spike was following things at the Hellmouth and relaying the information to the others. He edited quite a lot. He didn't want Dawn freaking on him. As the eclipse kicked in there was a gradual dimming of the light level. For seven minutes it was dark again – as dark as it had been during the night. Suddenly Spike felt something forcing him forward. He looked up in surprise and found he had stepped into the circle. With him were Angel, Dawn and Anya. Angel took the lead and Spike instinctively put his hands on Dawn's shoulders as he walked towards the centre of the circle with Anya at his side. On the other side of the circle, the lone figure moved forward. Spike glanced behind to see Giles gesticulating that he was not able to enter the circle. Spike hefted his sword. He understood that his part in this was to support Dawn, but he just didn't feel right to go in unarmed. Angel carried his favourite weapon – a heavy broadsword. 

Suddenly, as if released from a constraint, the lone figure of what Xander had become raced towards him. He was yelling for Spike to come and fight. With a glance behind him to Spike, Angel purposely moved towards Xander, challenging him without words. Fortunately, Xander still harboured enough dislike for Angel that he took up the challenge. Immediately the first blows had been exchanged, Angel realised that he was not just fighting Xander. The spirit which lived in him had imbued him with strength and skill that Angel could only wonder at. He was only able to defend himself. Attack was out of the question.

It was 11.55 at the Hellmouth. Buffy was tired but managed to continue. This was more than could be said for either Riley or Wesley. With their human levels of strength and stamina, it was only surprising they had lasted as long as they had. Riley fell first – Buffy didn't know if he was dead or alive – just that he was out of the fight. She and Wesley closed ranks. Seconds later, Wesley went down. Now Buffy was trying to fight five vampires at once, and she could hear more coming. She had no opportunity to check her watch; she could only hope that midnight would come soon.

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	15. Chapter 15

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Chapter 15

Spike was waiting. He didn't yet know how he was to support Dawn. He was afraid he would let her down – again. Suddenly he felt himself aware of Dawn's mind. It was a little like the way he could see what Buffy was thinking, but much less intimate. He felt her fear and apprehension, and then a strange calm. He realised there was another awareness there. It was addressing him. "Strength of the Key, it is time you understood your part in this task. The Key was designed in ancient times for the task of creating a new earth. It was sufficient for that task. In recent times, however, the key was enmeshed in human form – in this human child. If the energy required to complete the task is taken from her, the child will die. To prevent this, you must provide her with enough life energy to continue. However, I perceive another drain of energy, which her awareness will try to achieve. You must also help her with this, or she will die. The Key cannot take your life energy without your consent. The risk to you is significant. Your body may not survive such a draining of life energy, and the presence of your soul at the Hellmouth would ensure failure in the task. It has been necessary, therefore, to ensure that, if your support for the Key results in your death, it will be final. There will be no coming back. Do you understand?"

Spike thought about it. He really didn't want to die. But to die for Dawn and Buffy? Well, maybe they were worth it. No, they were definitely worth it. "I understand," he answered the presence in Dawn's mind. "And I agree."

The battle between Angel and Xander continued. Xander obviously had the upper hand, but Angel was defending as well as he could. He knew that if he failed, the world as he knew it would be over. Anya looked on, horrified. She could hardly believe that the creature in front of her, with that inhuman visage, filled with a hate beyond anything she had seen even as a vengeance demon, was her Xander. She didn't understand how she was to save him. She knew, instinctively, that should she get between him and Angel now, the only result would be the death of her and the child she carried. She thought back to the part of the prophecy which concerned her. She was to redeem Xander. From what? If Dawn was successful, a new earth would be created, a place for those enmeshed by the Dark. Suddenly she understood. If Dawn succeeded but Anya failed, Xander would be dragged away to that other earth. Her Xander would be gone. She felt panic rising, threatening to engulf her, imagining a life without Xander. She felt the child she was carrying move and panic was replaced by resolve. This was not just for her and Xander. The child deserved to know both parents. She would do this. She didn't know how, not yet, but she would do it.

At the Hellmouth, Buffy heard a scream from behind her. She had been so pinned down by the vampires surrounding her that she didn't see two more getting to Willow and Tara. She realised it would be only seconds until the barrier was down.

Dawn knew exactly what to do. She started to channel the Key energy into the task. "Such a lot of energy," she thought. Then there was lightning – flashes lit the sky. Anya looked up in horror. She knew this wasn't natural lightning. It was an outward sign of huge amounts of mystical energy being used. At last, in that unnatural light, she saw Xander more clearly. She almost despaired. It was clearly her Xander, yet it just as clearly was not. This Xander was incapable of love. 

The earth began to vibrate, the quaking becoming more and more violent. Cracks appeared underfoot. Spike felt that Dawn was close to the end of her energy supply. He began to channel more into her, but she snatched at it greedily, as if trying to take everything he had. He tried to force her to take the energy slowly, just as she needed it, and at last she relented.

There was one final jolt from the earth – this one bigger than any before it. Angel was thrown to his knees. The second he was on the ground, Xander was upon him. He swung his sword and Angel's head was taken cleanly from his shoulders. His body was dust before it hit the ground.

Anya instinctively knew this was her chance. Slowly, she approached Xander as he looked at the pile of dust which had been Angel. Tentatively, she held out her hands to him. At first, he didn't notice, so rapt was he in looking at the dust which had until recently been the vampire he had disliked so much. He looked up and saw Anya approach. At first he seemed not to recognise her. Yet, as she approached, he remembered someone. A friend. Someone he loved so much. Someone who would be hurt by what he had just done. He could not remember her name, but he had a blonde haired face in his mind. Tendrils of his humanity were surfacing as he tried to resist the spirit within him. While these thoughts and memories tumbled through his mind, Anya approached. She was afraid. She knew Xander could turn on her at any moment, and yet she didn't falter. When she was close enough to touch him, she hesitated. Confused, Xander looked up towards her face. She could see him squinting at her, as if trying to place where he had seen her before. Instinctively, he lifted on hand to Anya's stomach, feeling the 6-month bump, which was now quite obvious. The instant his hand touched her, the child within kicked the spot where his hand lay. Xander withdrew his hand suddenly, as if the movement had burned him. He looked again at Anya's face. Seeing her tears and her encouragement as she nodded to him, he touched her bump again. The baby kicked him once more, but this time, instead of moving away, he looked at his hand and saw it moving slightly with the movements of his child. The faintest smile lit his face. 

Suddenly the air immediately around the parents-to-be became icy cold. Anya wrapped her coat more tightly around her. Xander fell to the ground, shaking, having a fit of some kind. Anya knelt down beside him, lifting his hand to her stomach again as he shook. After a few moments, his shaking stopped and he appeared to sleep. He looked peaceful and Anya dared to hope she had been successful.

Almost at the same instant, Spike felt his knees buckle. He let go of Dawn's shoulders. He no longer had strength to stand. He felt instinctively for Buffy but felt her receiving a massive blow to her head before she lost consciousness. A fraction of a second after her, he also saw the world go dark.

For those left standing at Stonehenge, the sight was something they would always remember. The horde of vampires on the other side of the stone circle was suddenly fewer. Those who remained, seemed to realise they were outside in daylight, and turned to flee. Overhead, the clouds parted and a single shaft of sunlight peeped through. The area around Stonehenge did not afford much shelter from the sun. Many vampires started to smoke before turning to dust. The rain, which had continued for so many hours, stopped. Giles walked into the circle, making for Spike's prone figure, over which Dawn huddled, crying. Anya stayed with Xander. After a few moments, his eyes opened. He still looked ill, underfed, unshaven and dirty, but Anya immediately knew it was her Xander. Anya fell on him, holding him close as they sobbed.

Slowly, Buffy opened her eyes. She had a major headache, knew she was bruised all over, but realised she was more or less intact. She looked around. The vampires had gone. Climbing gingerly to her feet, she checked Willow and Tara. Both were still unconscious, but starting to stir. Then she checked Wesley and Riley. They too seemed to have survived. Riley got up quickly and went to see what was left of his team. Only then did Buffy reach out to find Spike. With a shock she felt like another blow, she realised she couldn't feel him.

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	16. Chapter 16

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Chapter 16

When Riley returned, it took the combined efforts of he and Wesley to get Buffy outside. She was completely incoherent. The only words they could make out were, "He's gone," repeated over and over. Riley insisted they all saw a doctor. The witches were able to walk unaided. He'd arranged for a medical truck to be close by, and they went there. The verdict was surprisingly good. Between them they had numerous cuts and bruises. Buffy had a slight concussion, Willow and Tara a broken arm each, Riley and Wesley several broken ribs. All were allowed home after treatment. The news about the rest of Riley's team was not so good. Of those who had fought in more open conditions, there had been four deaths and all the others had been significantly injured.

By the time she got home, Buffy had calmed enough to try to contact Giles. His mobile wasn't responding. She sat, scared for Spike and for Dawn. They were her life, her family. Her friends watched her in concern. She was pale, shaking and jumped at every sound. They tried to reassure her, but without her link to Spike, she felt lost.

Giles was initially alarmed when he saw Spike. It took several attempts to find a pulse. When he did, he heaved a sigh of relief. Only then did he notice that Dawn was looking off towards the centre of the circle – the area where Angel had so bravely defended them. He followed her gaze and saw a ball of green light floating gently above the ground. "What the..." he started to say.

"It's Angel's soul," Dawn replied. "While I was using the energy to make a new earth, I suddenly knew that a little bit of energy would hold his soul here. Then I thought, maybe Buffy could, you know..." She stopped and looked down at Spike. "But, I think it was too much. I drained Spike of so much energy. That was his job. There wasn't enough Key energy to complete the task and keep me alive. He had to provide the extra I needed. I think, maybe, I needed too much."

Giles put a hand on her shoulder. "He's still alive. He seems very weak, but he's still alive. We'll have to see what we can do for him."

Giles suddenly felt he was no longer alone in his own head. Another awareness was talking to him. "The task is complete. This is a great day for mortal kind. The sacrifice was made. But, it does not have to be complete sacrifice." Then Giles heard his own voice. He was not controlling it, but he heard a chant, eerily familiar. Then he realised Dawn and Anya had joined in. A gentle wind started to blow around the ball of green energy. Slowly a human body coalesced; becoming solid as it did so. A few minutes later, a very embarrassed and human Angel was taking Anya's coat to wrap around himself as well as he could. He raced to the Camper and returned a few moments later fully dressed. Between them, Angel and Giles carried Spike to the van and put him to bed. Anya and Xander followed, Anya supporting him all the way.

From what Dawn had told him about Spike's role in the task, Giles doubted that hospital was the right place for him. He had no outward injury. He drove into Salisbury and booked them into a hotel. As soon as he could, he picked up his mobile. It was soaking wet and completely dead. He picked up the room phone and dialled Buffy's number. It was picked up on the first ring.

"Buffy, is that you? What happened?" he asked.

"Giles, oh Giles, how are they? I can't feel Spike. He's gone. How's Dawn? Please tell me they're ok," the panic in her voice was apparent.

"Dawn is fine, Buffy, and Spike is still alive, although very weak. He's unconscious, which probably explains why you can't feel him," he replied gently.

Giles heard Buffy's indrawing of breath and then the sound of the receiver hitting the floor, before Willow's voice came on. They exchanged the news. Willow was repeating everything Giles told her for the benefit of the others in the room. "When's everyone coming back?" Willow asked.

"As soon as possible in the case of Angel, Anya, Xander and Dawn. Anya's panicking that if she doesn't get home soon, something will happen and she'll have the baby early and it won't be an American citizen by virtue of place of birth. She wants Dawn to go with her and Xander. He's ... not so well. He'll need psychiatric help for a while, but he does seem more like Xander again. Spike's not well enough to travel; in fact I was going to suggest Buffy come here. I'll stay with him until she arrives." The tone of Giles' voice told Willow what his words did not. He was not at all sure that Spike could survive.

As soon as she heard Giles' suggestion that she go to Salisbury to be with Spike, Buffy went to start packing. Willow made a reservation for her on the first available flight to London. Giles arranged for a friend to meet her at Heathrow and bring her directly to the hotel.

The car hadn't even fully stopped outside the hotel when Buffy jumped out. Giles' friend had alerted Giles to their imminent arrival and he was in the hotel lobby to meet her. He tried to prepare her for Spike's condition. He had shown no sign of life so far. 

As soon as she saw him, lying on the bed, so pale and still, she ran to him. She put her arms around him, but that wasn't close enough. She stripped out of her coat and climbed onto the bed with him, under the quilt. Giles quietly left the room. As she held him, she felt how little energy he had left. She imagined healing him as she had all those months ago when he had been so hurt bringing her back. She felt her life energy seeping into him, and slowly she felt the faintest flicker of awareness in his mind. Over the next hour, she continued. The effect was much slower this way that it had been when her soul was in his body, but it was working. Soon he had enough awareness to realise she was with him and the two of them fell into a deep sleep.

When Giles checked on them later, he found them both asleep. Spike's pulse was much stronger. He smiled. He didn't know how she had done it, although he had his suspicions. He made plans to go back to London in the morning.


	17. Chapter 17

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Chapter 17

Within twenty-four hours of Buffy's arrival, Spike was up and about again. They decided to travel back to London. The next day was their first wedding anniversary – Christmas Eve – and they wanted to spend it in Spike's home.

When they arrived in Kensington, they found that Spike's housekeeper, Mrs. Atkins, had surpassed herself. Not only was the flat beautifully decorated for the season, but the fridge was full of festive fayre that needed only minimal preparation. Once she had seen them into the flat, she quietly left them alone.

Spike and Buffy woke late on Christmas Eve. Spike insisted on bringing them breakfast in bed and got up to prepare it. When he returned, he had a tray containing coffee, toast, croissants and a present. He slipped into bed beside her, laying the tray on the table next to the bed. He picked up the parcel and handed it to her. "By rights, you should have had this a year ago. But I only found it recently. Happy Anniversary, Mrs. Stevas," he told her, kissing her. 

Buffy opened the parcel. Inside were two boxes. She opened the larger first, using the key Spike handed her. Inside was the set of jewellery she had seen in the painting of his mother. It was all set with diamonds, and she couldn't even begin to guess at its value. She opened the smaller box. Inside was the sapphire set. This was much more suitable – much more wearable. She laughed as Spike insisted on fastening the necklace around her neck. "These are the Stevas family jewels," he said pointing to the larger box. "They are always given to the wife of the eldest son on her wedding day. Except, you're getting them late. The smaller set, my father gave to my mother when I was born."

Buffy smiled at Spike. She didn't need jewels to make her happy, Spike was all she needed. But, this made her feel a real part of his family. She would never know his parents or his brother, but somehow, she felt them welcoming her into the fold. She felt as if she belonged here as well as in Sunnydale.

The whole day was spent in a haze of being back together again. Spike was certainly not completely healed, but neither of them found that to be a significant disadvantage.

The next morning was special too. A year ago they had spent Christmas day with Dawn before leaving for a short honeymoon. This year they planned another day spent alone together. They exchanged gifts in front of an elegantly decorated tree. Buffy was surprised when Spike produced a large, flat box. She opened it to find a black leather coat – as nearly identical to Spike's as he had been able to find, but made to fit her perfectly. Her gift for him was in a much smaller box. It was a signet ring engraved with both their initials.

Their plans for a day spent alone were rather quashed when Giles rang just after the Queen's Speech. Spike had insisted they sit down to watch that at 3pm, immediately after their Christmas dinner. "It's traditional. You're married to an Englishman. You can't **not **watch."

Fortunately, the speech was not very long.

Giles had phoned to tell them he intended to pop in and see them. He implied that he would normally just turn up at a friend's home on Christmas afternoon, but had specifically decided to warn them, 'just in case'."

"Just in case of what?" Buffy asked Spike when he hung up the phone.

"I think he meant, just in case we're not, well, dressed," Spike replied, grinning.

Giles didn't spend long with them. He gave them their gifts and asked them to deliver some to Sunnydale. He had a long list of visits to make that day. He did pause long enough to ask about Spike's recovery. When Buffy explained that she had shared her life energy to heal him, Giles looked concerned. "You do understand," he explained, "that you may have given up the advantages that being the Slayer gave you? If it was an excess of life energy which gave you your strength, endurance and healing ability, you may be much closer to the rest of humanity now."

Buffy nodded. "I didn't think of anything beyond healing Spike at the time. But, yes, I did think about that after, and it doesn't matter. I'd still have done it if I'd known that could happen."

"Well," Giles continued, "for what it's worth, I understand. I'm not sure Quentin Travers and the rest of the Council would consider it a fair trade, however. I suggest you don't mention this to anyone else for the moment. When you get back home, you can restart training and you can see how you get on. Remember, a part of the strength of the Slayer is the fact that evil fears her. We need to maintain that fear at all costs."

Later they spoke to Dawn. She was well and reported that Xander was improving daily. "He's really soppy about the baby," she reported, giggling. 

When they spoke to her, Willow had news. "Riley phoned yesterday. Apparently when he got back from Sunnydale, Cara was really angry with him for almost getting himself killed, and the only way he could calm her down was to ask her to marry him, and she said 'yes'."

Buffy was happy for Riley. He knew Cara would be good for him. She was intelligent, warm, and there would never be any doubt which of them was physically stronger. She smiled when she remembered how important that had been when they were together. She wondered how long Riley would be able to remain in his current line of work before Cara suggested something safer.

Buffy and Spike had arranged to return to Sunnydale in time for the New Year. Two days before they left, Buffy asked Spike to take her to Stonehenge. She had been aware of his view of it, but most of the time she had been concentrating on not being killed, so her memories were sketchy. They drove down during the morning. The weather had turned a lot colder, but was crisp and clear. The two of them walked around in matching coats as Spike explained what had happened and where. As they reached the centre of the circle, Spike sat on the ground pulling Buffy down to sit between his legs. They sat there for a time, lost in their own thoughts. Suddenly, they both jumped, as if electrocuted. The sharp feeling was replaced with a gentle tingling. Somehow, they both knew they were in no danger. This was a place of ancient power, and somehow it recognised them and what they had achieved, and perhaps what they had lost to achieve it. When the sensation stopped, they both felt renewed.

It felt good to be back in Sunnydale. The old routine was comforting; even if the lack of vampires made patrolling each night seem more like a romantic walk. Admittedly, only a Slayer and an ex-vampire could think walking around cemeteries was romantic. Reports from around the world confirmed that a significant proportion of the vampire population had disappeared at the time of the 'New World Event' as it had been named by the Watcher's Council. 

Neither Spike nor Buffy was aware of any diminution in their physical strength. In many ways, they both felt better than at any time before. They both knew, however, that only a real test against real evil would convince Giles. In the meantime, they made up their minds to enjoy their virtual 'holiday' for as long as it lasted. They didn't know how long that would be. There was still evil in the world. The vampire-controlling chips were still out there somewhere. Riley had made it his mission in life to ensure that they were destroyed as soon as possible, but it was going to take some time.

Life in Sunnydale continued without major incidents until March, when Anya had her baby daughter. Xander was more or less recovered by that time, and the arrival of a completely helpless baby into their home ensured his complete recovery. He was simply too tired to dwell on the guilt he felt any more. 

Angel continued working in Los Angeles. Even without his extra physical strength, his knowledge of demons, built up over his long life, was invaluable. There were even suggestions from Wesley, that he and Cordelia were no longer 'just friends'. Buffy smiled when she heard this. There had been a time when this news would have hurt her. But that was before Spike. She knew they shared something really special. Many couples can claim that, and in their way, they are right. But Buffy knew now that she and Spike were destined to be together, just as she was destined to become the Slayer. She was surprised at how her view of destiny had changed. When she was called, she resented her destiny. She resented the fact that her teens were taken away from her. She resented the fact that adult – and more than adult - responsibilities had been thrust onto her shoulders. There were still times when she longed for a 'normal' life, but truth to tell, there were many things which were not normal which she would never give up. The top of this list was Spike. They belonged to each other in a way she would at one time have found stifling. Now she realised it was right. And, those responsibilities, which had felt so heavy when she was sixteen, were so much more bearable when they were shared, as she shared everything, with her partner, her husband, and her love.

****


End file.
